The Dark Creature's Child
by SweetDeamon
Summary: When an unsettling prophecy is made concerning the child of a dark creature, Teddy finds himself being shunned. Along with his only remaining friends, Chester and Victoire, he delves into the world of werewolves to discover the truth. AU - RLNT LIVE! ON HIATUS.
1. The Marauders' Handbook

_Note: Hello! This is **The Dark Creature's Child**, which is the fourth story in the Blood 'ficverse, (the previous stories being, in reading order: **Blood, Lies and Letters and Without a Trace**) but it can stand alone – any references to previous stories will be explained. This 'ficverse is AU in that Remus and Tonks survived the final battle; Remus is back teaching at Hogwarts and Tonks is Head of Aurors. For those of you who have not read any of the other stories and can't be bothered to either, you may well encounter a couple of new characters: Chester Burton and Orion Lynch. Chester Burton is Teddy's best friend, whilst Orion Lynch is essentially to Teddy what Draco Malfoy was to Harry. **This fic contains major spoilers for Without a Trace! Consider yourself warned!** We rejoin Teddy just after we left him at the end of Without a Trace, so...I hope you enjoy reading and thank you in advance if you are kind enough to leave me a review! Here goes..._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing. _

**1: The Marauders' Handbook**

_Tick...tick...tick..._

Teddy Lupin fidgeted in his seat, eyes glued to his wristwatch as Professor Binns continued to drift back and forth at the front of the classroom, droning on about...well Teddy had no idea what.

A soft snore drew Teddy's attention, and he glanced sideways to find his best friend and fellow Gryffindor student Chester Burton slumped over the desk, arms folded into a pillow and eyes firmly closed. Teddy pursed his lips firmly together against laughter as Chester's snoring grew louder. Once glance to the front of the room confirmed Teddy's suspicions that the teacher was completely unaware of Chester's nap, Teddy wished he could follow Chester's example, the lesson would surely pass quicker that way.

The young metamorphmagus returned his gaze to his watch. He glared at it and fidgeted again.

_Hurry up_, he thought furiously, gripping hold of his quill pen and stabbing at the corner of his set of notes in a vain attempt to vent his frustration. The quill's nib snapped, sending a splatter of ink across the parchment and before he could stop himself, Teddy cried:

"Bugger!"

At the front of the room, Professor Binns' mono-tonal monologue paused for the first time in over half an hour, and as heads turned to stare at him, Teddy hastily aimed a hefty kick in Chester's direction under the table.

Chester gave a small jump, eyes snapping open as he sat bolt upright in his chair. The Slytherins in the back row gave a collective snigger as the teacher looked up at the two boys.

Teddy opened his mouth to make a mumbled apology, only for the ghost to murmur:

"Five points from Gryffindor." Then he turned back and continued to pace the room, resuming his speech as if he had never been interrupted.

"Did you have to kick so bloody hard?" Chester hissed irritably as Teddy went back to staring at his watch, unconcerned at having lost some house points. After a particularly disorderly and downright shambolic party that the Gryffindors had thrown some two weeks previously to celebrate the appointment of their new Head of House, the house's chances of winning the House Cup at the end of the year had been near on obliterated. The Headmistress, Professor McGonnogal, had been unimpressed to say the least. Indeed, Teddy recalled, she had been furious enough that losing a few more points was not going to make all that much difference.

The lesson wore on and Teddy struggled to find himself a suitable distraction that would make the hands on his watch tick a little faster. He was much too excited to concentrate on anything at all, and he had been this way ever since he had caught a glimpse of the front page of that morning's Daily Prophet.

HIGEST PRAISE FOR HEAD OF AURORS AFTER MASS ARREST OF FORMER DEATH EATERS.

Teddy grinned as he recalled reading the headline that morning over breakfast, he'd shown the newspaper to Chester, pointing at the large photograph of his mother and Minister Shacklebolt and announcing loudly: _Look Ches, my Mum's made the front page!_ He was pretty sure the whole entire Gryffindor table had heard him, and he had grinned broadly whenever he had spotted other people looking at their own copies of the paper.

"Typical really," Orion Lynch, Teddy's least favorite person in the whole entire school, had commented loudly when he and his Slytherin friends had followed Teddy and Chester out of the Great Hall and towards the marble staircase. "Newspapers always exaggerate. I mean...there were what? Three? Four of them? Hardly a mass arrest, was it?"

Teddy had been forced to grab hold of Chester's arm and drag him up the stairs in order to stop him turning around and making some sort of rude comment in return. Chester would start a fight with Orion given even the smallest opportunity, he was especially fond of drawing his wand and threatening to hex Orion into the middle of next week. Teddy did not feel this was a particularly wise move to make, especially when Orion was continuously followed around by several boys who were at least twice Chester and Teddy's size. Besides, it wasn't as though the comment had bothered Teddy in the slightest, he had been much too excited to bother paying any attention to what Orion had to say. Teddy had simply mused that it was unusual for Orion to resort to making comments about his mother. Teddy's father was by far Orion's most frequent target, since the Slytherin had a distinct hatred of werewolves, whilst Teddy was fiercely proud and protective of his father. It made for an explosive mix, and both Teddy and Orion knew it.

After a while Teddy had given up staring at his watch and he was just beginning to think that Professor Binns' lecture was never going to end when the constant droning sound came to an abrupt halt. Both Teddy and Chester looked up at the ghost rather hopefully along with the rest of the class.

"You may go."

Teddy practically leapt to his feet, narrowly avoiding upturning his chair, before reaching to grab hold of his bag in order to shove his belongings away.

"What's the rush?" Chester asked as he gathered up his blank set of notes and stored them away in his own bag.

"Gotta show this to Dad!" Teddy announced, pulling out his dog-eared copy of the Daily Prophet and waving it under his friend's nose.

"Don't you think he's already seen it?" Chester asked, rolling his eyes a little, Teddy's constant excitement was beginning to get a little irritating. "I mean... you said he reads the paper every morning..."

"I'll see you at dinner!" Teddy called, already halfway to the classroom door, and before Chester could call back, the turquoise haired boy had disappeared.

Skidding around the corner and narrowly avoiding tripping over his own feet, Teddy sprinted down the corridor towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts office. Holding the paper aloft in triumph, he came to an abrupt halt and reached to fling the door open and hurry inside.

"Dad!" he cried as the door flew back on it's hinges, striking the wall with a loud bang. "Look! Have you seen? Look, Mum's on the front page of..." his sentence ended abruptly as he felt his feet collide with something, and before he could look down to fathom what, the boy found himself falling flat upon his face, landing on the offending object with a crash, the newspaper went flying from his hands sending a spray of pages fluttering in all directions.

With a groan, Teddy pushed himself up into a crouch and looked down to see what he had fallen over. It was a large cardboard box full of a whole range of objects, from books to photo frames and ink bottles to a rather bent pair of spectacles. Or rather it had been a box...it was looking rather worse for wear now that Teddy had attempted to flatten it, it's contents spilling out onto the floor.

"Whoops," the boy muttered, feeling his cheeks warm as he finally looked up towards his father's desk, ready to be confronted by an inevitable raised eyebrow and pursed pair of lips.

But the sight that met Teddy's eyes was not what he had expected. Not at all...

"What are you DOING?" he shrieked, jumping to his feet and hurriedly reaching back to try and grab hold of the door, slamming it shut again, causing it to shudder in protest. "Are you MENTAL? Somebody could walk in and see you! I could have been ANYONE!"

From his position sat behind the desk, his wife sat across his lap with one arm hooked tightly around his neck, Remus Lupin offered his son a raised eyebrow.

"I rather doubt it," he said as Tonks reached to grab her wand from the desk, summoning the scattered papers with a broad sweep of her arm. "Anyone else would have knocked."

Teddy scowled at the pair of them until she finally put her wand down again and, disentangling her arm from around the professor, got to her feet.

"You saw the paper then?" she said, shooting the boy a grin. "Pretty cool, huh?"

It was then that Teddy finally got a good look at her, and her appearance surprised him just as much as her presence in the office did. Since the office's fireplace was connected to the floo network so that Remus could spend his nights at home rather than in the castle, it was not unheard of for Tonks to turn up, the Headmistress did not seem to mind the occasional visit from the Head of Aurors. But in Teddy's living memory, his mother had never felt the need to dress up for the event.

She was wearing a long, pale grey evening dress, studded with a spray tiny pink gemstones, and she seemed to have done something rather fancy to her hair, which today was a soft pink to match the dress. He noted the unusual addition of pristine silver nail varnish and asked:

"How come you're all dressed up?"

"Kingsley's throwing me a big party in the Atrium." Tonks told him, dark eyes twinkling with amusement. "So I thought I'd pop over and rub Dad's nose in it, you know, since he's stuck here and probably won't be able to come with me."

Teddy could not help but feel rather bemused.

"Doesn't Minister Shacklebolt have more important things to do with his time than organize parties?" he wanted to know, and Tonks sniggered cheerily.

"Probably," she admitted, turning to squint scrutinizing her reflection in the glass of the grindylow's tank. "But that's the thing about Kingsley...never could resist an excuse for a good knees up..."

"You're going to be late if you don't hurry up, you know." Remus pointed out as he too stood up. Tonks glanced over at the clock on the wall and Teddy watched her eyes widen in surprise.

"Bugger!" she exclaimed, as Remus rolled his eyes. "I was meant to be there ten minutes ago!"

"That's okay," her husband assured her as she hastily flung her arms around his neck. "You'll be fashionably late."

Teddy averted his gaze as the two of them set about saying a proper goodbye, and his eyes came to rest upon the upturned box that he had tripped over. He stooped to set about clearing up the mess, glancing at each object as he stored it away. Nothing caught his eye as being of interest, indeed most of the things were nothing more than old school textbooks, until he came across a small, dusty book with a faded red leather cover and yellowing, scrappy pages. He was just opening it up so that he could examine the title page when Tonks appeared beside him and reached down to ruffle his hair.

"Be good, love." she told him, and he glanced up and offered her a smile.

"Have fun, Mum!" he enthused, and with that the Head of Aurors headed for the fireplace, disappearing in a roar of green fire.

Remus reached to draw out his wand and with a muttered word the rest of the objects flew back into the box.

"Come along, Teddy." he instructed, striding towards the door. "We're missing dinner."

Teddy got to his feet again and obediently followed his father out of the door, the little book still clutched in his hand. As he walked, trailing along behind the werewolf, the boy opened up the book and squinted down at the faded title. It was written by hand in neat, familiar looking handwriting:

_Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present The Marauders' Handbook_.

Teddy's eyes widened and he glanced up to stare at the back of his father's head.

_The Marauders' Handbook? _

The child could feel excitement bubbling up inside of him at the mere mention of his father's school friends.

_What exactly was the Marauders' Handbook?_

Teddy couldn't help but feel that this was not a question that he should pose to Remus. He imagined that the book probably contained all sorts of accounts of rule breaking and pranks, if Remus spotted the book in Teddy's hands he may well feel inclined to take it away from him. Not that Moony was at all secretive about the antics that he and his friends had gotten up to whilst they had been at school, he was simply very careful not to condone them. He had only surrendered the Marauders' Map to his son with precise and strict instructions that it not be used to aid rule breaking, and his stories were always slightly on the vague side, just in case his son might feel inclined to try and copy them.

Teddy wondered if Remus had seen him pick up the book or not. He supposed not, otherwise he would have said something...

And so began a mental battle as the child tried to decide what to do with the precious object that he had discovered.

This was a chance to learn more about what the Marauders had gotten up to at school, the boy realized excitedly, without Dad telling only half a story, or being vague and frustrating about it...

Maybe, Teddy mused, he should just hand the book over, or put it back in the box after dinner. After all, it did belong to his father and he might not be pleased to find it missing...

It wasn't as though he would try and re-enact or copy anything he read, he reasoned. He was sensible with the Map, he could be sensible with this...handbook, too...

He could put it back later, his father would not have to know it was gone...

Remus shouldn't have left it lying around...

Even if it had been packed away in a box...

It was just a book. He borrowed books from his father all the time. This was not any different. Remus probably wouldn't even care about it, he trusted Teddy to be sensible...

Teddy slipped the book into his pocket with a grin. This, he thought happily as he hurried to catch up with his father, was going to be interesting...


	2. A Bit of Harmful Fun

_Note: Once again there are spoilers for Without a Trace in this chapter._

_**I am considering a NAME CHANGE**. Despite being very fond of my current pen name that I have been using for various Internet-related things for near on a decade, I have decided, for reasons that I will not bore you with, that I might need a new name. If anybody finds this rather traumatic news and wants to make sure they can still get hold of me on , please feel free to PM me and I will make sure to let you know what the new name is, if and when I choose it. I would also like to know of any suggestions for a new name, as I myself am not terribly creative when it comes to such things! Come on people, let's hear some suggestions! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**2: A Bit of Harmful Fun**

"This," Chester announced as he flicked through the pages of the Marauders' Handbook yet again as he sat beside Teddy upon the metamorphmagus' four poster bed, "is going to be the coolest thing ever!"

As he reached to snatch the book from his best friend's grasp, Teddy could not help but grin rather smugly. As he began to examine a page at random, frowning at the sight of bizarre diagrams of...well he wasn't sure what, and scribbled words that he had to squint to make out, he leant back against his pillows with a frown.

"I figured it was some sort of diary," he told Chester, who scooted up next to him to peer at the pages. "But I dunno...it's just a load of notes about stuff..."

"It's bound to be cool stuff though," Chester insisted as the two of them studied a strange squiggly line that had been carefully drawn upon the page, one end labeled start and the other finish. "I mean the Marauders' Map's just a scrappy old piece of parchment...except it isn't, it's actually totally wicked! This is bound to be the same."

Teddy turned a page and found himself looking at another squiggly line that looked rather like a tick. Still clueless, he squinted at the words below, all accompanied by a large X, save for the last that had been circled in red ink.

"Wadda Wassa, Woddi Wozzi..."

"What on earth are you babbling about?" Chester interrupted, but Teddy ignored him and continued to read aloud.

"Waddi Wossi...Waddiwasi!" Abruptly, Teddy sat bolt upright, a look of sheer triumph upon his face. "Ches, that's it!" he cried excitedly, scrambling to snatch up his wand from his bedside table. "Look, that's a diagram of a wand movement, start here..." he held his wand out in demonstration, "and there...flick!" His demonstration was so enthusiastic that he managed to catapult his wand off in the direction of his trunk, but he made no move to retrieve it. "And look! These are incantations they tried out, until this last one, the one that works, I know that spell, my Dad made it up when he was at school! Look, there!" He thrust the book towards Chester and jabbed a finger at the bottom of the page. Elaborately written as if it were some sort of autograph was written: MOONY.

"So..." Chester said slowly, eyes gradually widening as he stared at the signature. "This is...this is like...a handwritten spell book that your Dad and his mates wrote when they were at school...?"

Teddy's sudden excited laughter as he bounced up and down upon the bed was confirmation enough. Chester sucked in a deep breath.

"Bloody hell..." he breathed, cracking a grin.

The two boys waited until the rest of the Gryffindors had gone to bed, before creeping down into the darkened common room with the little book, sitting down upon a sofa by the fire with matching grins and barely contained excitement.

"So..." Chester said, hands fidgeting in his lap as he watched Teddy open the book at a random page. "Which one shall we try first?"

It had not taken the two boys long to conclude that sleep would be beyond them that night, at least until they had tried out a spell or two. Or three...four...

"I dunno..." Teddy mused, frowning down at a particularly complicated looking diagram. "Maybe...maybe we should start near the front? I mean...maybe those will be the easiest ones, if they came up with them first."

"Good idea," Chester agreed, and he shuffled closer so that he could look over Teddy's shoulder. Teddy turned to the first page after the title.

"How to grow Wormtail a sense of humour...signed by Prongs, Padfoot and Moony. We laugh in the face of a normal tickling jinx!" the Marauder's son read aloud, squinting through the dim light of the darkening room. "Okay...so...start here..." Holding the book carefully in one hand he raised his wand. "Then...you sort of...wave it back and forward like this..."

"I'll be Wormtail!" Chester offered enthusiastically, jumping to his feet. He stood before Teddy, grinning in what Teddy supposed was a rather foolish manner, but he was too consumed by anticipation to give what they were doing much thought.

Besides, Teddy thought as he cleared his throat, ready to read the incantation, it's not exactly dangerous. It's just a bunch of spells created by some students, it's just a bit of fun, it won't do any harm...

"Haharmora!" Teddy said clearly, aiming at Chester's stomach and giving his wand a definite wave back and forth.

He halted abruptly when Chester clamped his arms across his belly and gave a loud shout of laughter.

"That TICKLES!" the boy shrieked, falling to his knees and then onto his side, rolling about in absolute hysterics.

"Shhh!" Teddy cried, dropping down beside him and reaching to clamp a hand over his best friend's mouth. "You want to wake the whole castle?"

Chester took some time to suppress his sudden fit of magic-induced giggles, only for the look of amusement upon Teddy's face to set the both of them off, laughing like a pair of loons.

"Another one!" Chester cried, sitting up and making a lunge for the sofa where Teddy had dropped the book. "Do another one!"

Teddy hurriedly snatch up the book and turned the the next page.

"How to cure Prongs of Lily-induced moping, signed by Padfoot and Wormtail. Notes: This is going to freak Moony out when he gets back from visiting his mother. He needs it more than Prongs does..."

The cure for Lily-induced moping, Teddy and Chester discovered, was a truly freaky jinx that forced one's mouth to curve into an unnaturally large and overall quite alarming grin. It took some while for Teddy to manage the counter-jinx that had been scrawled on the edge of the page, as if it were a mere after thought. Despite his throbbing jaw, Chester was keen to try a third spell. Teddy offered him the book and took his friend's place as the test dummy, decidedly a little more apprehensive that Chester had been.

"How to wake up Moony," Chester read keenly as he sat down upon the sofa, "signed by Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail. Notes: Because you sleep way too much and we refuse to skip breakfast yet again in order to drag you out of bed. Flooing to your mother's and back in one day is not an excuse for being a lazy prat."

As Teddy felt an odd mixture of amusement and sadness at this comment, Chester raised his wand and cleared his throat.

A split second later Teddy felt a blast of cold water strike him directly in the face, he stumbled backwards with a gasp and reached to clamp his hands over his eyes. When he finally thought it safe to lower them a a moment later, water dripping down his face as he blinked at Chester, bewildered, his friend suddenly pointed a finger at his face and burst out laughing.

"What?" Teddy cried, reaching to run his hands over his face self-consciously. "What is it?"

Chester closed the book with a snap and, words seemingly beyond him as he continued to chuckle, he grabbed Teddy by the arm and dragged him back towards their dormitory. He proceeded to lead Teddy over to a dresser and point at the mirror, still struggling not to laugh as he tried not to wake up their fellow third years.

Holding his breath in anticipation, Teddy shuffled up to the mirror and squinted at his reflexion. Upon his forehead, he discovered, were clustered numerous droplets of water, arranged neatly into letters. They read: PRAT.

"Wow!" he breathed, impressed by the spell. Chester still sniggered, however, as he reached to try and wipe the droplets away. As soon as they had been displaced, however, the droplets rematerialized.

"There isn't a spell to get rid of it." Chester announced, and Teddy rounded on him, heart beginning to race.

"What?" he hissed, feeling his hair tinge orange.

"I said there isn't a spell to get rid of it."

"Liar! Give me the book!" Teddy lunged forwards, only for Chester to jump away from him. With a laugh that sounded more like a high pitched squeal, Chester made a run for the staircase, Teddy hot on his heels.

"Give it back, Ches!"

"Nope!"

"Give it back, it's mine!"

"Actually I think you'll find it belongs to your Dad..."

"Ches-ter!"

"Oh just you wait! The look on his face when you walk into Defense tomorrow with PRAT written across your forehead..." At that moment Teddy caught up with Chester, barging into him and knocking the pair of them to the floor. They began a desperate struggle over the book and it was not for several minutes that Chester managed to send it skidding across the floor and under an arm chair, leaving both boys to pause and stare after it.

Chester yawned.

"Actually it says it wears off after about ten minutes. I reckon we should call it a night." he murmured as Teddy got to his hands and knees and crawled over the the arm chair. "I'm knackered, and we've got Quidditch practice tomorrow."

Muttering irritably about their Quidditch captain, Cassandra Wood, who would never be satisfied until her team shunned all manner of free time in order to practice for their upcoming match, Teddy retrieved the book and the two boys headed to bed. Teddy hoped Chester had not been lying about the spell wearing off.

Sleep, Teddy discovered the next morning as he sat at the Gryffindor table, sleepily studying the front page of the new Daily Prophet, had done nothing to dull Chester's enthusiasm for Marauder spells.

"I can't wait for lessons to finish!" the muggle-born announced as he slopped a generous amount of jam upon his toast. "It's gonna be so much fun!"

Teddy shot him a grin as he examined a small article in one corner of the paper, praising the Ministry's rapid response to a bright green fire that had broken out at a large family wedding, much to the horror the the wedding guests, not to mention the large crowd of muggles who had caught sight of the event. He was just about to find out what had started the fire, when he heard footsteps come to a halt behind him and a voice asked:

"Have you finished reading that?"

"Near enough." Teddy said, twisting in his seat so that he could hold the paper out for his father to take.

"Great," Remus said, accepting the paper with a smile of thanks. He did not get the chance to say another word, however, for somebody further up the table had called his name. He turned and strode off towards the source of the noise.

"C'mon," Teddy said, reaching to snatch up Chester's last piece of toast. "Let's get out of here before Cassandra catches sight of us. She might want to try and cram in half an hour's practice before lessons start."

Thankfully, lessons started before Cassandra Wood could track the two Gryffindor beaters down. Less pleasing was the fact that each lesson the two boys found themselves in that day seemed determined to drag on for even longer than the one beforehand. By the time they reached Herbology, their last lesson of the day, Teddy was beginning to think that the evening would never come and Chester was terribly fidgety and irritable. When it finally was time for dinner, they practically sprinted to the Great Hall and shoveled their dinner down their throats in record time, unconcerned when it burnt their tongues and made their stomachs clench in protest. Teddy was just guzzling some pumpkin juice when Chester hastily snatched the goblet away from his lips, splashing juice all over his robes.

"Quick!" Chester hissed before Teddy could voice his annoyance. "It's Cassandra!"

Teddy instantly abandoned his fork, and the two of them got hastily to their feet before making a dash for the double doors.

"Hold it, Burton!" a commanding voice demanded just as they were about to escape into the Entrance Hall. As they came to a halt, Chester audibly groaning, Teddy spun round to face their Quidditch Captain with a forced smile.

"Hi Cass!" he greeted cheerily, voice the model of innocence.

Apparently Cassandra Wood was not fooled in the slightest.

"Are you both avoiding me, Ted?" she asked, armed folded firmly across her chest in a manner that made Teddy wonder why she was bothering to ask; she had clearly already deduced that they was doing exactly that.

"Of course not!" The denial left his lips before he could give his reply much thought, and Teddy knew it was a waste of a breath.

"Don't you want Gryffindor to win?" she continued, stamping her foot in furious emphasis. "Do you realize just how lucky we are to have the pitch booked so often?"

"Yeah, it's fantastic." Chester announced, and Teddy cringed at just how poorly hidden his sarcasm was. When they finally escaped Cassandra's clutches some five minutes later, both boys were feeling less than cheery.

"I want to kill your dad." Chester muttered as they climbed the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. "This is all his fault."

Teddy gave a half-hearted chuckle. He had become far from fond of any jokes regarding his father's death over the past few weeks, after Remus' near fatal run in with a group of former Death Eaters and a bottle of poison. It was difficult to laugh about such matters having watched your father lie motionlessly in a hospital bed, knowing that his lungs, choked by poison, could give up on him at any moment. The werewolf had seemingly made a reasonable recovery, but he did seem prone to coughing and it did not escape Teddy's notice that the energetic chaos and madness of Saturday morning Dueling Club often left his father gasping for breath.

That evening, Teddy and Chester discovered how to ruin Padfoot's hair with a spurt of foul smelling gunge, how to show Gryffindor pride by conjuring a sparkling gold lion that floated around the room, and how to add a Slytherin snake to the display and watch the lion chase it around the room.

As the snake was finally trapped in the lion's shimmering jaws, causing them both to explode in a shower of sparks, Chester snatched up the Marauder's Handbook and opened it to the last entry, some three quarters of the way through the book.

"Let's do this one!" he exclaimed excitedly, as Teddy leant over the back of his chair to peer at the page.

"What's it called?" Teddy asked, squinting at the complicated wand movement.

"I dunno," Chester told him, "it doesn't have a title. But...it's signed by Moony."

"What does it do?"

"No idea."

Teddy pursed his lips together thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure, Ches," he admitted, reaching to scratch his head. "Dad always says you shouldn't try out spells if you don't know what they're supposed to do..."

"Don't be silly, Teddy!" Chester cried excitedly, jumping to his feet. "Your Dad wouldn't make up anything dangerous, would he?"

Teddy frowned.

"Well...no...I guess not..."

At his friend's uncertainty, Chester rolled his eyes.

"Tell you what," he said, holding the book out for Teddy to take. "Let's just aim at an object, like a chair or something. That way if it is a bit dodgy, it won't hurt anybody."

This suggestion made Teddy feel a little more confident.

"Well...alright then." he decided, reaching to pull the wand from his pocket. He took a few moments to memorize the wand movement, a strange rather jagged lines, before clearing his throat loudly and aiming at a chair beside the dormitory staircase. Chester watching keenly from his side, the boy drew in a deep breath and declared:

"Inferliticas!"

And with that, to the complete and utter horror of both boys, the Gryffindor common room burst into flames.


	3. Occupational Hazard

_Note: Here we are again! Thank you very much to all those people who were kind enough to review the last chapter, you make me smile =)! For any readers of** Meet the Lupins**, I can tell you that I have written half of the next chapter and will finish it off soon – I am sorry for the long delay! _

_This chapter is dedicated to my good friend **Gelly Bean**! Thank you so much for the illustration of Chapter 2 (which the rest of you can view on DeviantArt by searching for "Teddy Lupin fire" - go and take a peek, it's brilliant!) you made my day! =) _

_**Again, there are spoilers for Without a Trace in this chapter.**_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit form this piece of writing._

**3: Occupational Hazard **

This hadn't been how Remus Lupin had envisaged his evening. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

This is what happens, he thought irritably as he came to a halt at the bottom of the staircase so that he could lean against the stone bannister, when you allow yourself to be so intent on being nice. When you try to please everybody.

Dora wasn't going to be pleased. Oh no, she wasn't going to be pleased at all...

Remus sighed heavily, before hastily reaching to stifle a cough with the sleeve of his robes. This was supposed to be a special evening, he recalled, because for the first time in Merlin knew how long, he and his wife had made plans for an evening out. Such an event was rare during term time, he was never home from Hogwarts early and Tonks was forever needing an early night for work the next morning. There simply wasn't time for a trip anywhere. But this evening, since Remus had not managed to make an appearance at Kingsley's party, Tonks had decided they should throw all sensibilities to the wind.

"Sod it, Remus," she'd declared cheerily that morning over breakfast. "Let's just go out! Let's stay up until the early hours and have a bit of fun! Then I can barricade myself in my office tomorrow and claim I have a lot of paperwork, and you can just set the kids a load of note taking; we'll catch up on sleep that way."

Remus had merely raised a disbelieving eyebrow at this plan, but apparently she hadn't taken any notice because the next thing he knew she'd been kissing him goodbye and announcing that she'd meet him at the Three Broomsticks later.

And he'd said: I'll see you then.

By lunchtime he had started to think that a little late night excursion wouldn't be the most foolish thing in the world, after all it was only a one off. Come late afternoon, he'd found himself looking forward to the evening, and by the time dinner had come around Remus had actually been rather excited. He'd made a long mental list of possible places they might go whilst eating his lamb casserole, and an even longer mental list of what they might do there whilst eating his rhubarb crumble dessert. He was just midway through narrowing down the lists to the things he thought Tonks would most likely agree upon, when Transfiguration professor Tobias Budden had dropped into the empty chair beside him and, with four small words, shattered the werewolf's hopes for the evening.

"Minerva's looking for you."

Remus had known it was going to be bad from the second he'd glanced up from his bowl to find Budden looking at him with a distinctly mocking expression upon his face.

"No...no, no, no..." He'd started to shake his head vigorously and was about to bolt from the hall when he heard the immortal words:

"Ah, there you are!"

The Headmistress had appeared at his elbow and announced that regrettably Professor Sprout was unable to take her turn patrolling the corridors that evening because...well Remus hadn't listened to the reason why because he was much too busy resisting the urge to let out a very loud sigh of resignation, and would it be at all possible for Remus to cover for her?

Remus had wanted to ask why she was asking him, why couldn't she ask somebody else? He'd just taken his own turn yesterday...

It's because you always say yes, he told himself moodily as he stood leaning against the bannister, tapping his fingers upon the cool stone. She knew you would say yes, you always say yes, you did say yes...

And so here he was. Wandering aimlessly up and down the dark school corridors, having sent a brief, rather vague owl to his wife and fully expecting to receive a howler at the breakfast table the next day in return.

To be fair to Minerva, Remus thought as he turned on his heel and began to wander back down the corridor, she did pay him to be here twenty four hours a day, and despite this she did let him go home almost every night he wanted to.

Just not tonight, when it actually mattered.

Dora's going to kill me...

And this is pointless, anyway. How often when patrolling the corridors did he actually catch anybody? Most of the time it was Teddy coming to talk to him, so by rights it was easier for the curfew to be enforced when he wasn't in the castle...

As he turned a corner and made his way down another corridor, the only sound to be heard was his footsteps upon the floor and he strained to hear any other sound. He was determined for this night not to be a complete waste of his time, he was going to discover hordes of students attempting to sneak down to the kitchens, and a dozen or so more hiding in broom closets. He was going to find all of that at the very least, otherwise he would have to accept that this was a wasted evening. And to admit to his wife that he had swapped their night of freedom for a pointless stroll around Hogwarts...no, he couldn't do it...

Remus mused that he was unlikely to hear anything beside his own footfalls and breathing all night, let alone a horde of students. It probably didn't matter anyway because unless he found a reincarnation of Voldemort skulking in a cubicle of the boys' third floor bathroom, Tonks probably wouldn't think the sacrifice worthwhile.

The silence continued to mock him, and Remus began to think of all of the reasoning he would attempt and instantly fail to use when Tonks got hold of him the next day. Since he could have simply told Minerva that he was unavailable, there would be no reasoning convincing enough.

Maybe he'd go and check out those cubicles next. If Voldemort did somehow manage to appear in one of them, Remus' life would no doubt be over and done with very swiftly indeed. Then he wouldn't have to face Tonks in the morning...

Indeed, at that moment in time Remus decided that he would pick an encounter with Voldemort over Tonks without any hesitation at all. At least coming face to face with Voldemort would be over nice a quickly.

For another five minutes, there was nothing but the professor's footsteps as he mounted a staircase and headed along yet another corridor. They all looked the same in this poor light. They all sounded the same, too...

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"

...most of them sounded the same...

Remus instantly turned on his heel towards the sound of the cry, and dashed back down the corridor.

Maybe this wasn't going to be pointless after all...

He rounded the corner just in time to find a dark figure sprinting towards him, still shrieking at the top of their lungs.

"HELP! SOMEBODY...PROFESSOR!"

Chester Burton came to a skidding halt in front of the Head of Gryffindor House, panting for breath as he pointed over his shoulder, eyes wide with panic.

"Gryffindor Tower!" the boy gasped, tears streaming down his flushed face. "It's on FIRE!"

Remus opened his mouth to say something, though as the full force of Chester's words mentally pummeled his brain he had no idea what, only for a voice further up the corridor to call:

"What's going on down there?"

Remus forced himself to draw a calming breath, blinking away his wide-eyed look of mortified panic.

"Run and rouse the rest of the staff, Rosemary!" he called to the professor of Muggle Studies. "Gryffindor Tower is on fire!"

"On fire? Did you say on FIRE, Remus?" came the startled response, but Remus did pause to reply.

"Go and wake up as many teachers as you can, Chester, then go to the Great Hall and stay there." he instructed the petrified child briskly, and with that he ran to Gryffindor Tower.

Ignoring the frantic exclamations of the Fat Lady, Remus stumbled into the smoke shrouded common room mere minutes later, only to discover flames burning furiously before him, blocking the entrance to the staircase that lead to the students' dormitories. Gryffindor courage appeared to have risen up as fiercely as the flames had, through the heavy, choking mass of grey smoke that rose from the roaring fire, Remus could just make out a solid crowd of figures upon the stairs, and between shouts of alarm and smoke induced coughing, he could hear a loud voice shouting:

"On three! One! Two! THREE!"

"AGUAMENTI!" the Gryffindors bellowed, and Remus watched as a dozen jets of water shot towards the flames, only to evaporate with a menacing hiss, the flames seemingly unaffected.

Remus immediately drew his wand.

"Everybody to the top of the tower!" he demanded, taking a few steps forward. "Everybody get upstairs, close the doors and open all of the windows!"

With a number of calls of: yes professor, the crowd immediately disappeared in a rumble of pounding footsteps upon the spiral staircases. Remus raised his wand, ready to reel off as many possibly helpful spells that he could come up with, when a voice from behind him made him hesitate.

"Dad!"

Remus spun round to find Teddy crouched down behind an armchair, eyes wide as he stared at the chaotic scene.

Before Teddy could say a word, he found himself being hoisted up and onto his feet, and Remus practically dragged him towards the portrait hole.

"Get out! Get out!"

"But...but Dad..."

"Go to the Great Hall and stay there..."  
"But Dad, the fire..."

"Will either burn or choke you to death. Now GET OUT!"

As Teddy was pushed out through the door way, causing him to stumble and fall to his knees, he hastily scrambled back onto his feet and turned to face his father.

"It's not a normal fire, Dad!" he cried desperately, and just as Remus made to turn away, the boy hurriedly thrust his arm forward, the Marauders' Handbook in his hand.

Remus froze, eyes widening in alarm.

"Oh sweet Merlin..." he breathed, as Teddy stared up at him with guilt ridden eyes.

"I...I tried to...to find something to...to put it out! But...but you didn't write anything..." Teddy trailed off into silence as the book was hurriedly snatched from his hand.

"Great Hall, Ted. Now!"

Teddy fled without another word.

When Professor McGonnogal and a handful of other teachers arrived a few minutes later, they were dismayed to discover that the fire seemed intent on getting worse rather than better, for Remus had made little if no progress in stifling the blaze. Without so much as a word to the werewolf, the teachers set about attempting to control the inferno, yet no matter what spells they threw at it, nothing seemed to make a difference.

Frustrated, Remus hurriedly pulled the offending book from his pocket and began to flick through it, cursing and muttering under his breath.

"I don't think this is the time for reading, do you?" the Headmistress shouted from beside him, but the werewolf ignored her.

"I should know this..." he complained aloud, wincing as a loud crash signaled the fiery demise of a portrait, the figures within the frame screaming in alarm. "I just have to remember...what happened last time?"

Last time, he recalled, closing the book with a snap and barely resisting the urge to fling it at the roaring fire, you accidentally set fire to one of the desks in a Charms classroom, and you weren't there when Dumbledore arrived and miraculously saved the day because you'd been ushered out into the corridor with the rest of the students...

Then you'd sworn never to attempt to create such a hideously dangerous spell again as long as you lived, especially when you're not clever enough to figure out how to banish it.

Bugger...

But he wasn't an idiotic schoolboy anymore, was he? He'd grown up at least a little bit, he understood more about magic...

Maybe it didn't take a genius like Dumbledore to fix this...

And so Remus planted his feet firmly upon the floor, raised his wand, and set about bellowing as many incantations as he could muster.

Ten minutes later and the blaze had begun to creep it's way up the spiral staircase, flames climbing the walls, leaving a black trail of charred portraits and tapestries in it's wake.

"This is hopeless!" Professor Rosemary Nichols exclaimed as yet another barrage of spells failed to have any real effect. "What dark magic is this?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Rosemary!" McGonnogal snapped furiously, unaware of Remus' wincing at the Muggle Studies professor's words. "Dark magic? This is clearly a case of a prank gone wrong!"

"Whatever it is," Tobias Budden announced, shouting to be heard above the rumbling and spitting flames, "if something isn't done soon the students are going to find themselves choking on the smoke. We need to evacuate the tower."

Remus was about to inform the rest of the staff that he had sent the Gryffindors up to the top of the tower, only to catch sight of his latest attempt to stifle the fire striking the flames with a loud crack. A small section of the fire was smothered with a hiss. As fresh flames began to burst into life in the small gap that the spell had created, Remus drew in a deep, triumphant breath.

"That's it...!" he began, only to be cut off by a spluttering cough that left him doubled over, clutching at his chest.

"Oh Merlin!" Madam Pomfrey's voice cried from just behind him, and Remus grimaced to feel a hand upon his arm. "Really, Minerva, Remus cannot stay in here! Look at him, all this smoke after his stay in Mungo's! I really don't think..."

"I'm fine, really I am!" Remus insisted, stubbornly clenching his teeth in an attempt to stop coughing.

"You've not been out of the hospital for that long," Madam Pomfrey insisted, giving his arm a sharp tug. "Keep this up and you'll be headed straight back again..."

"That was weeks ago! I'm fine..."

"Nonsense! For goodness sake, Minerva! Talk some sense into him..."

At McGonnogal's apologetic glance at him, Remus was sure that this was not an argument that he was going to win.

"I know how to put it out!" he announced hurriedly, before he could be banished from the room. Aiming at the fire again he repeated the spell, and beside him a number of people were foolish to take deep breaths of relief at the sight of diminishing flames, a number of coughing fits ensued.

"You heard him!" McGonnogal instructed, wand held ready. "We'll need to act together to have any real effect! Wands ready, everybody...not you," she added, glancing sideways at Remus who had taken aim along with the rest. "You should leave."

Remus resisted the urge to shout: I'm fine, because it did not appear to be a phrase that anybody understood. Instead he said:

"Somebody should be with the students. Merlin knows what's going on upstairs."

"I'll go," one of the teachers volunteered from the back of the crowd. "I'll fetch a broom, fly up to the window..."

"I'll go." Remus insisted, ignoring Madam Pomfrey's tut of disapproval. "I'll not waste time finding a broom, I'll go straight up the stairs."

"You should be in the Hospital Wing!" the nurse snapped furiously. "And how do you intend to walk up there when the staircase is on fire?"

"No, Poppy, being their Head of House I should be with my students. And I intend to walk up there when the staircase is on fire because you will all stifle the flames just long enough for me to run through them."

A number of the teachers murmured their approval of such a plan, but Madam Pomfrey was utterly livid at the mere idea of it.

"Do you have a death wish?" she shrieked, gripping her wand until her knuckles whitened.

Remus waited for McGonnogal's inevitable denial of the suggestion, only for the Headmistress to announce:

"Very well then, Remus..."

"Minerva! Really!"

"Now Poppy, it is a well known fact of life that being the Head of Gryffindor House is in itself a health hazard! If they hadn't managed to set their common room on fire this evening, no doubt they would have been up to some other form of mischief! Remus forfeited the right to distance himself from their raucous doings and dire straits the moment he agreed to take the job! Now, take aim all of you!"

Remus took a few steps forward, squinting as the heat struck his face like a physical wall, drawing in a slow, careful breath.

"Are you ready?" McGonnogal asked him, and the werewolf gritted his teeth against nerves and gave a firm nod. And with the command of: go!, Remus took a running jump, straight into the midst of the fire.


	4. What Dads are Meant to Say

_Note: Some illustrations of the previous chapters can be found on Deviant Art, in GEL543's (Gelly Bean's) gallery! So go forth and see their awesomeness! I'm sure Gelly would love to hear from you just as much as I do! =) _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**4: What Dads are Meant to Say**

There was no doubt about it, Teddy Lupin realized as he watched the pyjama-clad Gryffindor students file through the double doors in front of him. He was doomed.

A number of the seventh years looked as though they had just tumbled out of the floo network; their clothes were ruffled and their faces were dusted with ash. Some students were chattering to one another excitedly as if the whole disaster had simply been a big adventure, whilst a number of the first years appeared to be in tears. Behind them all, ushering along a few stragglers, came the teachers, Professor McGonnogal bringing up the rear. Teddy eyed the Headmistress worriedly. Like the seventh years and the other teachers, she looked somewhat disheveled, her grey hair ruffled as if she had just walked across a mountain pass in the middle of a gale. Her lips were pressed together into a very thin line and a deep frown creased her brow.

Teddy sat upon the edge of the Hufflepuff table, gently rocking himself back and forth.

_She's going to kill me_, he thought, heart hammering in his chest.

At least the whole ordeal was almost over and done with, he mused as beside him Chester sucked in a deep, nervous breath. The two boys had been sat in the Great Hall for such a long time that Teddy had begun to think that the apprehension was going to drive him insane. And there had been silence. Complete and utter silence. When Chester had joined Teddy in the room, red and breathless having just run through the school, shouting as loudly as he could to raise the alarm, the two boys had not said a word to one another. They had simply sat in agonizing silence, leaving one another to their own panic and despair.

Teddy wanted to ask Chester if, once McGonnogal had killed him, his friend would like to have his Firebolt broomstick, because Chester's own broom was a little on the slow side. But Chester appeared to be too busy observing a couple of sobbing first years with a deeply guilty expression upon his face.

_I'll leave my books to Victoire_, Teddy mused as he watched the Headmistress making her way slowly towards them. _She'll probably read them more than Chester would_.

_I wonder if Dad will keep the Marauders' Map, or give it to Harry so that James can have it when he starts school..._

After this evening, Teddy supposed that Remus would keep anything Marauder-related somewhere very well hidden where nobody would ever find it. Their family vault underneath Gringotts, perhaps...or buried in a very deep hole at the bottom of the garden...

Thinking of Remus, Teddy glanced around the hall in search of him, only to find that the werewolf was nowhere to be seen. At last the boy leaned towards his friend and whispered:

"Where's Moony?"

Chester paused in his intent examination of his shoes and looked searchingly around the room.

"I dunno, Ted." he concluded when he did not spot Remus in amongst the crowd.

"Oh Merlin...d'you...d'you think he's okay? What if...if he's hurt...or...or anybody got hurt..."

Chester opened his mouth to mumble a reply, only to promptly close it again as Professor McGonnogal came to a halt in front of them.

His impending doom momentarily forgotten, Teddy looked up at the Headmistress with wide, panicked eyes.

"Where's my dad?"

"Professor Lupin is in the Hospital Wing," McGonnogal informed him, expression stoic, "along with Miss Wood and Mr. Cantrell."

Teddy was about to ask if they were all okay, only for the professor to reach into the pocket of her tartan dressing gown and draw out a familiar looking little book.

"Your father has informed me that this book has something to do with the incident in Gryffindor Tower this evening. Would either you or Mr. Burton care to enlighten me as to what exactly happened?"

As Chester looked down at his shoes yet again, hands shifting nervously in his lap, Teddy stared at the Marauders' Handbook, dread rendering him silent.

_Why did Dad show her? Why did he have to say anything..._

_What else did he tell her? What am I supposed to say..._

"I wonder, Mr. Lupin," Professor McGonnogal said, tapping the spine of the book against her palm impatiently, eyes piercing, "Just how would you feel if I were to inform you that your father may well face suspension from work, because of your little stunt this evening?"

As Chester's gaze snapped up to stare at her in alarm, Teddy sat bolt upright upon the table, shaking his head.

"You can't suspend him, Professor! It wasn't his fault, he had nothing to do with it..."

"This is his book, isn't it, Mr. Lupin?"

"Well yes...but he didn't give it to me, I stole it..."

"From his office?"

"Yes...he had no idea I'd..."

"Which begs the question, Mr. Lupin, why on earth was such a dangerous object left lying around in your father's office in the first place? It was highly irresponsible..."

"Who cares?" Teddy slid from his perch, planting his feet firmly on the ground as his hands balled into furious fists. "Who cares what it was doing there! There are loads of dangerous things in this castle! We leave random potions lying about in the dungeon classrooms! There are loads of dangerous plants in the greenhouses! Teachers borrow books from the restricted section of the library and leave them on their desks all the time! And who cares? If some of us are stupid enough not to be careful with all of them...well...well then we deserve everything we get!"

Silence had fallen over the crowd of Gryffindors as they all turned to stare at Teddy and the Headmistress, even the sobbing first years had suddenly halted in their crying.

"May I remind you that there are two students and a teacher spending the night in the Hospital Wing because of your behavior, Mr. Lupin." McGonnogal said, and Teddy felt his anger diminish upon the spot, replaced with a deep sense of shame.

"It wasn't Teddy's idea." Chester said at last, and Teddy wondered why it had taken so long for him to say something. "He just wanted to look at the book...I...I sort of persuaded him to try the spells in it...and...and well I told him to do the last one, even though we didn't know what it would do...it was stupid...we're really sorry..."

"We didn't think it was going to be dangerous." Teddy explained quietly, cheeks flushed with shame and embarrassment as he felt the rest of his House staring at him. "We...we thought...well it's just a book of schoolboys' tricks...I'll never do anything of the sort ever again, not as long as I live! Please...please don't expel me or...or anything...I...I love being at Hogwarts."

To his complete surprise, not to mention confusion, Professor McGonnogal looked amused.

"That's what he said." she recalled, looking down at the book thoughtfully. "_Please Professor Dumbledore, please don't expel me. I love being at Hogwarts_...hmph! Sobbing little wreck he was, completely beyond consolation..." She opened the book and stared down at the title page, the Marauders' names elaborately displayed before her. "They teased him something dreadful afterward...but he learned his lesson and kept his word..." The book closed with a snap, making both Teddy and Chester jump. The Headmistress regarded them thoughtfully for a long moment before telling them: "You will report to my office for detention, after dinner every evening for the next week. Is that clear?"

"So...you aren't going to expel us...?" Teddy asked slowly, holding his breath in anticipation.

Professor McGonnogal stared down at him, lips pressed into a thin line.

"We shall see, Mr. Lupin." she said, slipping the book back into her pocket. "The real question is: Are you truly your father's son, or not?" And with that she turned on her heel and swept off towards the double doors.

_With his single word all they dropped to the floor, like a crowd of dominoes, their cheeks pressed to the cool stone floor in a desperate attempt to breath fresh air and escape the smoke. The urge to join them, to attempt to soothe the burning in his lungs as he stood, staring at the blazing doorway with sheer desperation coursing through him like hot blood, was verging on over-powering. But instead he glanced sideways at the nearest of the cowering figures and, identifying a couple of seventh years, pointed at them. _

"_You two! Stand up!" he called to them, resisting the urge to splutter his demand, and the two of them stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. _

"_Me?" the boy, who as he looked up became identifiable as being Matthew Reed, called back disbelievingly. Beside him, Cassandra Wood looked equally as startled. _

"_Yes, Matthew, you. Get up, both of you and help me!" _

_Matthew instantly scrambled to his feet, and Cassandra seemed about to follow his lead, only to pause and let out a alarmed gasp as the first year boy beside her suddenly went limp, his head hitting the floor with a bump as he passed out. She looked up questioningly, only to be told:_

"_Leave him! Get up!" _

_The three of them stood abreast before the roaring fire and, after hurried instruction, they all raised their wands..._

_There came a sudden crash as a shelf fell from the wall, landing amidst the flames and within a blink of an eye a burst of flame shot forwards towards them. _

_Remus grabbed both students by the arm and pulled them towards the ground as Cassandra let out a shriek of alarm, before quickly pushing himself up into a crouch, wand raised. _

"_Now!" he shouted, and Cassandra reached with a shaking hand to point her wand at the fire, Matthew following suit. The three of them bellowed the spell as one, and the inferno shrunk into nothing with a menacing hiss and burst of smoke. _

_As Matthew dropped back towards the floor, coughing and spluttering loudly, Cassandra's wand cluttered to the floor and the girl reached to clutch at her arm, a hysterical sob escaping her lips. _

_Remus turned towards her, biting back a curse at the sight of burnt, blistering skin running the length of her arm. The Quidditch captain crumpled onto the floor, curling up into a ball and hugging her arm to her chest. _

"_Keep calm, Cassandra," the teacher instructed, voice strained as he attempted to suppress a cough. "You're going to be okay..." _

_Water, he thought hurriedly, reaching to prize her arm free so that he could get to it, cold water..._

_Sweet Merlin, his chest felt tight..._

"_Let me see it," he wheezed, pulling gently at her arm, but the pain appeared to have rendered her completely hysterical as she attempted to pull away, eyes screwed shut as she cried and spluttered. "Cassandra, you must let me see..." _

_Lungs burning, fog descending into his vision, air...for the love of Merlin, he needed air..._

"_...Cass...let me see...let me help..."_

"_It's burning! It's burning!"_

"_I know...let me...let me..." _

"_...burning...burning...help..." Sound was fading, becoming distant, blackness was creeping across his eyes..._

"_...help me...professor..."_

Remus' eyes snapped open and he gasped for breath, lungs burning in protest as clean air caught in his throat, leaving him to cough violently. Slumping back against his pillows, the werewolf let out a small sigh.

_Merlin, what a night..._

Groggily, he pulled at the blankets that had been tucked tightly around him until they were sufficiently loose, before sitting up in bed. He blearily looked around the darkened Hospital Wing, eyes coming to rest upon the glass of water set upon his bedside table. He was just taking a sip, glad of the soothing sensation of cool water upon his raw, sore throat, when a light caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned towards the source of the soft glow, eyes coming to rest upon the doorway of the ward.

There stood Teddy, lit wand clutched in one hand, the scrappy parchment that was the Marauders' Map in the other, his crimson dressing gown tied tightly about him as he squinted through the darkness, shoulders hunched. Seeing his father's eyes upon him, the mousy brown haired boy hurried across the room, bare feet slapping against the cold stone floor. Dropping the Map down upon the foot of the bed, he flung his arms around Remus' neck, burying his face in his shoulder.

"T...tell me y...you're okay," the child begged, shuddering as the floodgates opened and tears began to stream from his eyes. "Tell me you're all okay!"

As he slowly put his arms around his son, Remus glanced sideways towards the bed in which Cassandra Wood lay sleeping, one arm swathed in bandages. Across the room, the first year who had passed out was snoring softly.

"We're all okay." he decided, but this did not seem to console Teddy in the slightest.

"I...I didn't mean for...for anyone to get hurt...and...and Professor...M...McGonnogal says she's g...going to suspend you!"

Remus recalled the somewhat hurried conversation that he had back in Gryffindor Tower when he had first regained consciousness and found Minerva and Tobias staring down at him. He'd handed over the Marauders' Handbook and admitted Teddy and Chester's guilt.

"Are you going to suspend me?" he'd asked as Tobias had hauled him up onto his feet, and Minerva had frowned deeply.

"Merlin, no!" she'd cried, grasping hold of his arm to steady him. "How were you to know that Teddy would steal the book? Besides, we can't do without you!" she'd lowered her voice so that just he and Tobias could hear her. "I'm not having a repeat of last time, Remus, worst cover lessons I've ever heard of in all my years!"

Tobias had laughed far too loudly, the noise had made Remus' head spin.

"Well you best tell Teddy otherwise," he'd told the Headmistress gravely. "Threaten to have me suspended without pay for a week or two..."

"That's a bit bloody harsh!" Tobias had protested, reaching to dust soot from his robes. "I mean...he's burnt half of Gryffindor Tower to buggery and two students are in the Hospital Wing...not to mention his own father...the guilt of such things...!"

"Exactly!" Remus had interrupted, paused to cough into the sleeve of his robes. "As much as I can't stand the thought of it, Teddy and Chester have been reckless enough to warrant expulsion!"

"You said yourself though, it was a mistake..."

"Yes, and it's important that we make sure that they never do something so foolish ever again. Go down there, Minerva, and traumatize the pair of them if you have to. You might not expel them, but for Teddy sacking me would be the next worst thing. Do you realize just how many years I was unemployed before coming back here? Nobody else will employ me, Minerva, and Teddy knows it. You tell him I might be sacked and believe me, he will be more than sorry."

After some five minutes of continuous sobbing, Remus could only conclude that yes, Teddy truly was more than sorry.

"What's done is done, Teddy. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. Shh now, otherwise Madam Pomfrey will hear us. She's already threatened to keep me here all day tomorrow, if she finds out I've been awake half the night it'll be hopeless arguing with her in the morning."

Teddy turned to look over at Cassandra's sleeping form tucked up tightly in bed.

"What about Cass?" he whispered, reaching to dab at his eyes with a sleeve. "How long does she have to stay?"

"A couple of days or so. She won't be playing Quidditch for a while, that's for sure."

Teddy averted his gaze, guilt pummeling him in the chest as he fixed his father with a forlorn look. He wished Remus would say something comforting, something that would make him feel better, but instead the werewolf slumped back against his pillows and sighed heavily.

"I think you should go back to bed." he told his son heavily, reaching to smother a cough with his hand.  
Teddy reached to straighten the blankets around his father, tears still seeping from his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Dad." he whispered, desperate to hear something at least vaguely positive. "I'm really sorry..."

Remus' eyes drifted closed and he shook his head.

"Go back to bed, Teddy."

"I...I didn't know what I was doing..."

Remus slowly opened his eyes and fixed his son with a somewhat blank expression.

"What do you want me to say?"

At such a blunt question, Teddy simply stared at his father, mouth hanging open as he attempted to think of something to say.

"I don't know..." he mumbled, feeling his cheeks flushed. "Just...just Dad stuff. Stuff dads are...are meant to say..."

"Such as _don't worry son, it was just a little accident_? Or _it's okay son, I won't be angry with you as long as you are sorry_..."

As Remus trialed off, coughing violently, Teddy pressed his lips firmly together against a sob.

"Maybe..." he mumbled, instantly feeling crushed when Remus said:

"Well I can't do that, Teddy. I've warned you about attempting magic that you do not understand, you know how dangerous it can be, you're a clever boy...I think..."

Teddy's gaze dropped to his shoes.

"...you know that I've warned you with good reason, and yet you still decided to ignore me. You thought you knew better..."

"No, Dad..."

"...and because of you people were put in danger. They could have _died_."

Teddy opened his mouth to whimper yet another apology, only for Remus to close his eyes again with a sigh.

"I have absolutely nothing to say to you." the professor whispered, shifting beneath the sheets to get himself comfortable. "Now go to bed."


	5. The Girl Who Knew Things

_Note: I invite any readers of What is Best For You to write a second chapter/a happily ever after for it, because I have decided not to do so myself. If anybody does decide to play in my morbid sandbox and brighten it up a little, do let me know, I would love to read!_

_Anyway, back to the story at hand..._

_If anybody knows their Greek Mythology they might see this one coming...(or read the story description, that's probably a bigger hint...) Metaphorical Brownie Points for those who can spot the connection to Ancient Greece! =)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**5: The Girl who Knew Things**

Saturday morning found Teddy sat at a lone table in the corner of the library, a mound of books at his side as he scanned through the contents pages of each one, a small frown of concentration upon his face. So absorbed by his task, the child failed to hear the approaching footsteps, and it was not until a shadow fell across the table that he finally looked up.

"Shouldn't you be at Dueling Club?" he asked quietly, nervous at the sight of his father stood gazing down at him. Their conversation in the Hospital Wing still very much fresh in Teddy's mind, he was sure that he could not stand to hear anything that Remus might have to say to him. It had been terrible enough when his father had been rendered speechless.

"Shouldn't you?" was the equally as quiet response, and though half a night's sleep had taken the cold edge from Remus' voice, Teddy dropped his gaze to the book before him and shrugged his shoulders. When he didn't respond, Remus asked:

"Can I sit?"

Though Teddy gave a small nod, he was not entirely sure if it had truly been a question, for Remus had already reached to draw back the empty chair beside him. The werewolf eased himself down onto the chair, and the two of them sat in motionless silence for a long moment. When they both failed to say anything, Remus reached to pick up one of the books that Teddy had selected from the library shelves and examined the title.

"No ancient curses or hexes today, then." he observed, putting the volume down and reaching to look at another.

"No," Teddy mumbled, "not today."

Remus traced the lettering on _The Art of the Conjurer by Ludo Bevilwick_ with a finger, lips pursed together thoughtfully.

"Are you looking for something in particular?" he asked eventually, eyes flickering briefly to Teddy's downcast eyes before returning to the golden lettering. "You've got half the library stacked up on this desk."

Teddy shifted in his chair, cheeks reddening.

"I wanted to...to conjure some flowers." he mumbled, reaching to turn a page of his current book. "Some nice flowers, for Cassie. To say sorry."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Remus told him, and Teddy glanced sideways to find that his father had finally managed to turn to gaze at him steadily. "Do you need some help?"

Teddy shook his head firmly, glad to see Remus' lips twitch towards a smile when he insisted:

"No, I have to do it myself. There's no point, otherwise." The boy went back to his searching, abandoning one book in favour of another, and it was not until after several minutes of silence that he glanced sideways to see that Remus had been staring at him. Teddy closed the book with a snap, folded his hands together on top of it and stared straight back.

"You know, Teddy," Remus said after a moment, leaning back in his chair, "it's shocking what thirteen years of peace can do to a person."

Teddy supposed this was the time when he would usually make some sort of joke about his father's approach towards old age, but the very thought of cracking jokes seemed beyond him. So he simply continued to stare in silence.

Remus sighed heavily, reaching to sweep the hair from his eyes.

"You get accustomed to normality, how calm it is...and then one day, bam! Something terrible happens and you lose it, you panic. And then you look back later and wonder what came over you...surely you were never so...so paranoid or fearful."

Teddy wasn't entirely sure what Remus was getting at. After all, from the whispers that he had overheard whilst huddled in his sleeping bag with the rest of the Gryffindors in the Great Hall, the actions of Remus and the other teachers had been swift and, to quote Rory Dipper, _bloody heroic_. There had been absolutely no mention of any apparent fear whatsoever...

"I worry about you, you know." Remus admitted, hands twisting in his lap. "More than you realize. Sometimes more than I should."

Teddy found himself with an odd urge to smile. At his father's pause to cough into the sleeve of his robes, he mumbled:

"I worry about you too."

Remus glanced around them and, finding the corner of the library deserted, reached to put a arm around Teddy's shoulders. There was a sizable pause before he admitted:

"I set fire to a desk in the middle of a Charms lesson in my fifth year. Four students got sent to the Hospital Wing with burns. I nearly got expelled."

"McGonnogal said you cried."

"Like a baby. A room full of them."

"Like a room full of babies?"

"Absolutely."

"In your fifth year...? So you were..."

"Fifteen."

"And you cried like a baby?"

"For hours."

"Merlin, Dad...!"

"I know. The point I'm trying to make, Teddy, is that I know how you feel. Walking in and finding the common room on fire...well...it was rather like some sort of horrible re-enactment. I despaired...to think you...you of all people had managed to make the same terrible mistake that I had...I just thought..._never again_..."

Teddy swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat.

"What I'm saying," Remus continued, hold upon the boy tightening a little, "is that yes, I am disappointed in you, what you did was very foolish. And I'm glad you've been punished and I'm glad you are upset. I was worried you'd get off lightly, it would do you no favours, believe me. But people forgave me my mistake, and I will forgive you yours too. I'm sure I may be many things, Teddy, but I'm not a complete hypocrite..."

He trailed off as Teddy reached to throw his arms around him, hugging him fiercely.

"I'm sorry, Dad."

"I know. So does your mother..."

"Oh no..."

"She was all for sending a howler, but I said I'd already subjected you to one personally."

"She's really mad with me?"

"To put it mildly, yes."

"Oh dear..."

"Don't worry," Remus withdrew his arm and got heavily to his feet. "She's leaving for Cornwall tomorrow morning, won't be home for several days. She won't have time to write until she comes back, that should give her ample time to calm down." He strode over to a nearby bookcase and, after a brief search, selected a hefty looking volume bound in lurid reddish leather, bringing it back to the desk. "You want this one." he said, pressing it into Teddy's hands. "Any type of flower you can think of, there's a list several pages long."

Teddy looked down at the violently flowery cover of _The Conjuring of Romance by Minne Lovett_ and pursed his lips against a snigger.

"Have you _read_ this book, Dad?" he asked incredulously, turning to his father with a smirk.

Remus set about stacking up the other books, seemingly unabashed.

"Figuring out how to go about wooing Lily Evans was a four man job." he recalled, smiling faintly. "James' interest was practical. For the rest of us it was an entirely academic exercise..."

"So...you never...you know..."

"Your mother isn't the type for flowers."

"Yeah...but...what about before Mum? Like...did you give girls flowers? Or...chocolates, or...you know...that sort of thing...?"

Remus sent the books flying back towards their respective shelves with a wide sweep of his wand, seemingly concentrating very hard. Teddy turned in his chair to fix him with a painfully inquisitive look.

"Dad?" he began, eyes alight with curiosity. "How many girlfriends did..."

"Do try not to turn the library into a florist, Teddy." Remus interrupted briskly as he pocketed his wand and reached to ruffle the child's hair. Before Teddy could mumble much more than _sure, Dad_, the werewolf had disappeared back into the labyrinth of bookcases.

It was not until just after lunch that Teddy finally managed to conjure a bunch of flowers he deemed good enough to be a suitable apology to the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, To begin with he had attempted a bunch of roses, and after half an hour of practice he had managed a couple of feeble, droopy flowers that looked pitiful to say the least. When Chester had arrived and discovered his efforts, he had sniggered a great deal until Teddy had threatened to throw _The Conjuring of Romance_ at him.

"This is ridiculous!" Teddy had complained, sinking down into his chair as Chester had come to examine the book. "It's much too difficult."

"Maybe you should try a different type of flower," Chester suggested, running a finger down the list searchingly. "Like...like some pansies or some daisies...it says roses are hard to master. Why'd you pick roses anyway? You don't fancy her, do you?"

"Shut up Ches! Of course I don't fancy her...I just figured girls like roses, that's all..."

"Yeah, on Valentines' Day, or from boyfriends, you idiot! Are you sure you don't fancy her? Because that would be gross..."

"I'm very sure! Very, very sure!"

"Ted and Cassie sitting in a tree..."

"Shut up."

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Shut up, Chester!"

"First comes love, then comes marriage..."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH BEFORE I HEX YOU RIGHT IN THE FACE!"

A mere two minutes later the two boys had found themselves being marched out of the library, an irate Madam Pince screeching at them as they went.

And so it was that Teddy settled upon the idea of conjuring a big bunch of bright red tulips, and though the final result was not exactly a grand gesture as far as size was concerned, he had managed a suitably vivid colour. Feeling rather pleased with himself, the young Gryffindor had marched off to the Hospital Wing that afternoon, ready to present Cassandra with the gift and babble a profoundly sincere apology.

He had hoped to find the Hospital Wing relatively empty so that he could speak to Cassandra on his own. But as he stepped over the threshold he found himself confronted with a cluster of people around her bedside, and at the sound of his footsteps they halted in their murmured conversation and turned to stare at him.

Teddy felt his face flush at their probing stares and he wondered why he felt a sudden urge to hide the bunch of flowers behind his back. Fixing his eyes upon Cassandra who was sitting up in bed in the middle of the group, he shuffled forwards until he reached the end of the bed.

"Hey Ted!" Cassandra greeted cheerily, and at her tone her other visitors immediately seemed to brighten and mumble greetings of their own.

"Hi," Teddy greeted quietly, resisting the urge to rock back of his heels nervously. He glanced around at the other students and identified a few from the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a Hufflepuff girl who he had seen Cassandra speaking to once or twice, and a couple other girls he did not recognize at all.

"Well budge up, Lance!" Cassandra demanded as Teddy clutched hold of the flowers and wondered exactly what he was going to say to her. "Let Ted bunch up like the rest of you, Madam Pomfrey's going to go spare if she noticed how many of you are in here..."

Fifth year Gryffindor Chaser Lance Norrington was just about to oblige when a furious voice from the other end of the room made him pause.

"I said two visitors at a time!" Madam Promfrey cried as she marched down the aisle towards them, stomping her feet as she went. "Two! Not..." she paused to do a quick head count, her eyes widening furiously as she concluded: "SEVEN! This is a place of healing, not a common room! Now go on, out! All of you!"

Teddy stared blankly as the rest of Cassandra's visitors filed out of the door, grumbling to one another with hushed voices.

"And you, Mr. Lupin!" Madam Pomfrey said, reaching to give him a sharp tap upon the shoulder, jerking him away from his thoughts. "Miss Wood has had quite enough chit chat for one day..."

"He only just got here." Cassandra protested, glancing over to where first year Gryffindor Morgan Cantrall was being visited by a Ravenclaw girl who was perched upon the foot of his bed. "And Morgan's sister has been here for hours!"

Madam Pomfrey eyed the flowers that Teddy was clutching in both hands with a resigned sigh.

"Ten minutes!" she snapped, and with that she wandered off towards her office. "And that goes for you, too!" she called over to the two siblings. The boy gave a small nod, but his sister did not appear to hear, she simply continued to stare at nothing in particular, as if she were in a trace.

"She's been like that for ages," Cassandra informed Teddy in an undertone, as Teddy glanced over at the girl. "It's sort of creepy."

"I didn't know Morgan had a sister." Teddy said, offering Morgan a little wave when the boy noticed his staring.

"Hardly anyone does." Cassandra told him as the metamorphmagus hurriedly turned his attention back to her and took a seat beside her bed. "They're like chalk and cheese. The fact that they're in different Houses is only the tip of the iceberg, which is kind of strange. They're twins, you see. Kind of expect them to be similar."

"I guess." Teddy mumbled uncertainly. The only twin that he had ever met was George Weasley, but with his brother Fred dead before Teddy's first birthday it was not much of an example for Teddy to go on.

"Her name's Moirai. She's the talk of the Ravenclaw common room, my friend Louise says, 'cos she's a total oddball. Never says a word to anybody, just sits there, staring into space. Like she is right now." Cassandra leaned forward, eyes widening as she whispered: "She's staring right at you, Ted, right at the back of your head...ha ha!"

"Shut up, Cass." Teddy mumbled, resisting the urge to turn around to look for himself. "So she's a bit quiet, so what?"

"We're not talking a bit quiet, Ted, we're talking silent! As in never utters a word! She hasn't even spoken to Morgan since she came in here. That's weird, isn't it?"

"Maybe..."

"And she's Morgan's twin sister! I mean come on, Teddy, this is Morgan-Can't-Shut-My-Mouth Cantrall! Shove food in the little bugger's mouth and he still keeps on talking..."

"Seems pretty quiet just now, doesn't he?"

"...and then he's got a twin sister who just never talks at all!"

"Maybe he never gave her the chance..."

"It's weird! She's still staring at you, by the way..."

Again, Teddy forced himself not to turn around to look. Despite giving a shrug, he could almost feel Moirai's eyes upon him and he was sure that Cassandra was telling the truth. For some reason it made Teddy want to shiver and he felt compelled to change the subject.

He held out the bunch of flowers for Cassandra to take.

"I um...these are for you." he mumbled, eyes upon the floor. "I...conjured them myself."

"Aw, that's cute, Ted!" Cassandra beamed, reaching with her good arm to take the gift from him. Teddy felt his cheeks warming.

_Cute? _

_Was that a good thing? _

_Who cares, just apologize and get out of here_, he thought to himself, still acutely aware of Moirai's staring that was becoming increasingly unnerving by the minute.

"Well...I just wanted you to know how sorry I am." he told Cassandra, remembering to look up at her and speak clearly. He wasn't sure it was making much difference, she was much too busy examining the flowers.

At least she likes them...

"I really didn't mean for anybody to get hurt," he went on regardless. "It was an accident...a really stupid mistake...and I'm so sorry you got hurt, Cass. I'm really, really sorry."

"It's okay, Ted. I know it was an accident."

"You do?"

"Well yeah, of course! I mean c'mon, Teddy, I've lain here and watched Professor Lupin toss and turn in that bed over there, snapping and rowing with Madam Pomfrey every time she came within earshot! He was seriously pissed off! So of course it was a bloody accident! As if you'd be stupid enough to do something like that on purpose! I swear he would have bloody torn you limb from limb...!" Cassandra trailed off into silence, face reddening as she reached to put a hand to her mouth. "Crap," she muttered, staring worriedly at Teddy's face. "I didn't mean...you know...anything like that...what I meant was...you know..."

"I know." Teddy agreed hurriedly, feeling equally as awkward. "He was pissed off."

"I dunno why Madam Pomfrey was so annoyed when she came in and discovered he'd done a runner this morning. Probably saved her a load of ear ache!"

Teddy wasn't sure whether he found this funny or not.

"He's not angry anymore." he said, feeling compelled to lessen his father's apparent spectacle. "We talked. He was just worried about me and stuff."

Cassandra shrugged.

"Hey, keep me up into the early hours, throw me into a bloody big fire and then cart me off to hospital without listening to what I have to say about it, I'll be pissed off for more than an evening!"

At last, Teddy smiled.

"I should probably go," he murmured, getting to his feet, "before I get kicked out. You should get some sleep or something. I hope you feel better soon."

"Thanks, Ted. The flowers are awesome, by the way." Cassandra said, stifling a yawn. "Yeah, I think sleep sounds good to me."

Teddy was just wandering back towards the door when he paused and turned to look over at the Cantrall twins.

Morgan was busy examining a book that he had balanced upon his lap. At the foot of the bed, Moirai was still staring.

Teddy drew in a deep breath and strode down the aisle towards them. Hearing Teddy's approaching footsteps, Morgan looked up from his book and smiled.

"Hi Teddy." the younger boy wheezed, reaching to sweep a mop of frizzy black hair from his eyes. "How are...you?"

Teddy bit his lip to hear the child pausing for breath after only a couple of words, just as Remus had done some weeks previously whilst lying deathly ill in a bed at St. Mungo's. The memory made Teddy's stomach clench.

"I'm okay, thanks Morgan. How're you feeling?"

"Not too bad. Madam Pomfrey says...I'll be out of...here in a few...days, doesn't she, Moirai?"

Morgan's sister turned to regard both Teddy and her brother with blank, far away eyes. Teddy stared back at her and, feeling unnerved again, attempted to copy the mildly polite expression that his father appeared to had mastered at birth.

Moirai Cantrall was a small, pale girl whom Teddy thought closely resembled a stick insect. Her chalky skin was made to seem ever more pale by a shock of thick, frizzy black hair that reached her shoulder blades, and her wide eyes were cool and silvery.

"Hi," Teddy greeted a little uncertainly, determined to be nice to the girl who everybody else seemed so keen to avoid. "You must be Morgan's sister. I'm Teddy, I know Morgan from Dueling Club. I...um...I've never seen you there. Do you go too?"

"She doesn't." Morgan told him, folding his arms across his chest and fixing his sister with a somewhat disapproving look. "She should, though. Mum says she...should mix with people. Make some friends...but she won't. Nobody's going to...want to be friends...with her anyway."

At such a comment from Moirai's own twin brother, Teddy felt stung on her behalf, but the young Ravenclaw made no reaction. Teddy wanted to say: _I'd be friends with her_, just to be nice, but he wasn't sure she was even listening, so instead he turned back to Morgan.

"Listen, Morgan," he began, attempting to ignore the distinct feeling that Moirai was staring into the side of his head. "About last night...I'm really, really sorry..."

"Flames..."

At the sound of a quiet, whispering voice Teddy spun back round to stare at Moirai, who had at last uttered a word. As Morgan sat bold upright in his bed and leaned forwards, eyes widening to match his sister's, Teddy asked:

"Pardon?"

"It will start with flames..." Moirai whispered, still in a trance, and Teddy realized that she had begun to rock gently back and forth as she sat upon the edge of Morgan's bed.

"What do you mean?" Teddy asked, deeply confused. "What will start with..."

"Quiet!" Morgan snapped, pulling back his covers and scrambling closer. "Just listen to her! She knows things!"

Teddy wanted to ask _what things?_ But before he could say anything Moirai drew in an audible breath and Teddy found himself holding his own.

"It will start with flames," Moirai said, still rocking back and forth. "And the dark creature's child shall arise from the ashes, and bring terrible retribution down upon those who accepted his father not. And it shall end as it began, in the flames of the child's wrath."


	6. Freaks

_Note: I've set up a new poll! So if anybody has a spare moment feel free to go and vote! =)_

_This chapter is dedicated to **AzaleaDatura** and is complete with 2 of her favorite OCs, because her messages have made me smile!_

_There are spoilers for both **Blood** and **Without a Trace** in this chapter! It's a rather short update, I know, but it seemed a good place to end!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**6: Freaks**

"They're staring at me."

"No they're not."

"They are! They're all staring right at me!"

"They're really not..."

"Liar!"

Chester Burton turned to looking searchingly over his shoulder.

"Don't turn around, for Merlin's sake!" Teddy Lupin hissed, giving his best friend's arm a firm tug. When Chester ignored him he folded his arms moodily across his chest and muttered: "See, they are! I told you so."

As he scowled over at the crowd of first years who were awaiting the arrival of their teacher just down the corridor, Chester sucked in a thoughtful breath.

"Well..." he began somewhat reluctantly, "they might be...just a little bit..."

"They know, don't they?" Teddy muttered, gaze upon his shoes. "They know all about what's happened..."

"Nah, they don't." Chester insisted as he made a particularly rude hand gesture in the other students' direction, at last making them turn away. "I mean who's gonna tell them? You? The Freak's brother? The Freak herself?"

"Don't call her that, Ches."

"Why not? She is a freak, you said so yourself..."

"That was before I knew they were carting her off to Mungo's! She's mentally ill..."

"Totally mental!"

"Mentally _ill_, Ches."

Chester paused thoughtfully, eyes coming to rest upon a familiar looking first year stood just behind the little crowd of snoopers.

"Well Morgan's not gonna say anything, is he? I mean...if I were him I'd not want everybody to know my sister was a nutcase...oh look, somebody's been playing dress up with a troll again; it's wearing a wig and everything!"

Teddy looked up, grimacing at the sight of Orion Lynch making his way towards them, his flock of fellow Slytherins walking along behind him.

"It's shocking, don't you think," the two Gryffindors heard him comment loudly, "the sort of freakish psychos they let into this school."

The soft hum of murmured conversation died down until the corridor fell completely silent.

And then, to Teddy's shock, a brave voice snapped:

"My sister is _not_ a psycho!"

As Orion Lynch rounded on Morgan Cantrall, causing the surrounding first years to back away a good few steps, Chester let out a soft groan.

"Well done Morgan," he muttered. "Now he's gonna squash you like a bug..."

"Your sister?" Orion snorted, as Morgan's glare faltered somewhat at the sight of the burly third year taking a step towards him. "She's your sister? Merlin, imagine being related to a thing like that!"

"Shut your face!" Morgan shouted, voice a pitch higher than usual, and Chester muttered:

"Uh oh..."

"What did you say?" Orion cried, taking another step forward causing Morgan to back off until his back hit the cold stone wall.

"He said shut your face!" Teddy called, reaching into his pocket and drawing out his wand, "Now back off, else we'll have to rearrange it for you!"

"We?" Chester hissed questioningly, and Teddy gave a tiny nod.

"What's wrong with that?" he whispered back. "You're the one who always wants to hex him into oblivion."

"Well yeah...but...there's like five of them..."

"Shh!"

Orion Lynch turned to regard the two Gryffindors with a sneer.

"I don't suppose we should be surprised, really." he announced to the crowd. "I mean...they're bound to let freaks in, they're already paying one of them to be here..."

"I'll tell you what's freakish, Lynch," Chester called as he too drew his wand. "You waltzing around making pathetic comments about Teddy's dad, when in reality it's your dad who's pathetic. How long did he have to spend in Akzaban after Professor Lupin kicked his arse and got the Aurors to drag him off to rot in a cell?"

Teddy fought back a smile at this question, though if he were honest the phrase _kicked his arse_ was probably more than a small exaggeration.

The Slytherin's face contorted furiously, though with both boys stood with wands in hands he was forced to refrain from physical retaliation...

But then Morgan sniggered.

"Think it's funny, do you?" Orion bellowed, rounding on the boy and reaching to grasp hold of him by the shoulders, pinning him against the wall. "You think it's funny?"

Within moments the tip of a wand prodded the Slytherin in the side of the neck.

"Let go of him." Teddy demanded, attempting to ignore the nerves that assaulted his chest at the sight of Orion's friends stood mere steps away.

_This is no big deal_, he tried to convince himself, gripping the wand with all his might,_ I stunned a Death Eater a few weeks ago, this should be a walk in the park... _

To his relief, Orion released Morgan and turned to sneer at him again. Leaning forward until their faces were mere inches apart, the taller boy whispered menacingly:

"I'm going to get you, Lupin. And when I do, I'm going to do more than just rearrange your face." And with that, Orion turned on his heel and stalked away back down the corridor, leaving Teddy to let out a sigh of relief.

As he sidled up to his best friend, Chester let out a low whistle.

"Well that was a close one!" he commented excitedly.

"Way to go and taught him, Ches," Teddy muttered irritably. "Now he wants to murder me."

"You taunted him too..."

"I threatened him, that's entirely different, he was picking on Morgan."

As he turned to regard the first year with a reassuring smile, Teddy found that Morgan appeared to be positively traumatized by the whole experience; he stared at Teddy with wide, petrified eyes.

"Are you okay?" Teddy asked, pocketing his wand. The assembled first years were still silent, watching closely.

"I...I'm fine." Morgan whimpered, and Chester sniggered at him.

"Well you don't look fine," he told the dark haired boy with a grin. "You look like you're about to piss your pants..."

"Shut up Chester." Teddy muttered, but once again he was ignored.

"...But then again that's what most of us look like when Orion Lynch tries to slam us through a solid stone wall! What are you, stupid? You're lucky Teddy had the balls to jump in and save you..."

"Just shut up, Ches!"

"I'm only saying, he should be more careful!"

Teddy shot his friend a withering look before turning back to Morgan and trying again:

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked; only for Morgan to shuffle backwards a step and insist:

"I'm fine! I'm absolutely fine! I didn't need you to...to get involved..."

"Do you have any idea who that was?" Chester cried, throwing his hands up in disbelief. "That was Orion bloody Lynch! He eats squirts like you for breakfast! In fact he eats squirts like us for breakfast too! And Teddy's gonna be dinner because he helped you, you should be grateful...what are you shaking for? We just saved you!"

Morgan drew in a deep breath and took a step forward towards Teddy, his expression far from grateful.

"Stay away from me!" he cried shakily, fingernails digging into the palms of his hands as he attempted to steady himself. "Just stay away from me, you hear?"

As Chester openly gawped at him and Teddy felt a horrible sinking sensation in his stomach, the younger boy turned to face the other first years, pointing a quivering finger at Teddy's chest.

"And you all stay away from him!" he shouted, as the other students began to whisper amongst themselves. "Like I told you, he's up to something! Something bad! Moirai said so! She knows things!"

"That's a load of rubbish!" Chester interrupted furiously, but Morgan simply shook his head.

"It isn't! I heard her! I heard what she said! _It will start with flames! And the dark creature's child shall arise from the ashes, and bring terrible retribution down upon those who accepted his father not! And it shall end as it began, in the flames of the child's wrath!_ It will start with flames, she said! And who was it who set Gryffindor Tower on fire? _He_ did! And who is the child of a dark creature? _He_ is! Stay away from him, all of you! He's dangerous!"

As Teddy felt himself being consumed by pure mortification and hurt at the countless wide eyes and whispers that followed, Chester grabbed hold of him firmly by the arm.

"You're just as cracked as your sister is!" the muggle born accused, jabbing a finger into Morgan's chest, making the boy wince. "This is ridiculous! Come on, Ted, don't listen to this nutter, we're going to be late for History!"

And with that, Teddy found himself being marched away down the corridor, and as he numbly put one foot in front of the other, he was sure that he could feel every single pair of eyes watching him go.


	7. Defense

_Note: Thank you to those of you who took time to go and vote on the poll! Keep those votes coming!_

_One last chapter before I leave for France! I will be gone for just under a week. =) _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing. _

**7: Defense**

_Dear Mum,_

_Something awful has happened and I don't know what to do. Do you remember the Cantrall family? Mr. and Mrs. Cantrall were at that Ministry party a few years ago. They've got twins; Morgan and Moirai, they are first years here at school. I expect Dad told you about Morgan, he passed out during the fire (Dad told you about that too, didn't he? Please don't be mad with me, it was an accident!). I went to see him and Cassandra the other day and Moirai was there. Mum, now everything has gone horrible wrong and I just don't understand it. Moirai made a prediction about me, it went like this:_

_It will start with flames, and the dark creature's child shall arise from the ashes, and bring terrible retribution down upon those who accepted his father not. And it shall end as it began, in the flames of the child's wrath._

_Chester says it is a load of rubbish and Madam Pomfrey has had Moirai sent to St. Mungo's, they think she is ill. But Morgan believes her, he says she knows things other people do not. He told me to stay away from him, even after I stopped Orion beating him up. I didn't know what to think, Mum, and now Morgan is telling the whole school about it and everybody is avoiding me like the dragon pox. They must think I'm evil, or that I'm going to start attacking people or something. Orion Lynch is having the time of his life, he follows me down corridors shouting for people to run for their lives. _

_I don't know what is going on, Mum, I don't understand any of it, I don't know how prophecies work, I never listen in Divination. Do you think Moirai is just crazy, or is she telling the truth? Is it possible for her to be wrong? Or do all prophecies end up being fulfilled one way or another? _

_I don't want to tell Dad about it, I don't want him to think it is his fault, besides he has had enough to worry about recently because of me._

_I'm scared, Mum. Please tell me what to do, I don't want to be evil, I don't want to do anything bad._

_Love_

_Teddy_

_Teddy_

_I'm sorry if this is a little short and scribbled, but I'm not due home for a few days yet and I'm supposed to be taking over watch from Ron and Jones in a minute, then that will be me hiding up a tree for six hours straight. _

_First of all, don't be silly. Go and tell Dad everything, that's what dads are there for, after all. He wasn't born yesterday, either, he is bound to notice something is wrong. Especially if you don't tell him, because if you don't, I will. _

_Secondly, Divination is not a form of mind control! I know you're not evil, love, and so do you. If you don't want to do something, well then you simply won't do it. You have absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Walk down those corridors and hold your head high, you are a good person. People love a bit of gossip, but they will get bored eventually. I'm no prophecy expert either, but I have never heard of a eleven year old Seer who made a decent prediction. As a matter of fact I have only heard of a handful of adults manage such a thing. _

_Go and have a chat with Dad, it'll make you feel better. And remember, you have absolutely nothing to be afraid of._

_Lots of Love_

_Mum_

_Dear Mum,_

_I've had a row with Chester. He hasn't spoken to me all morning. _

_Everybody sat as far away from us as they could at dinner last night, only Chester and Victoire would sit near to me. Chester keeps giving the others dirty looks, he doesn't listen to me when I tell him to stop. Then when we went to the common room everybody went quiet when I walked in. They were all staring, Mum, but I thought of what you said so I decided to ignore them. I went to sit in a chair, and the second years next to me all got up and moved away. Chester lost his temper, he started shouting at everybody about how we thought they were stupid and everything. Everybody went upstairs to their dormitories and left us on our own. Now they must all be really afraid, what with Chester yelling at them. I told Chester this and told him he should keep his mouth shut, he got mad with me and said he was only trying to help. I told him he was an idiot and he told me to piss off. (I'm allowed to swear if it's part of the story, aren't I?) Now he won't talk to me anymore and it's just me and Victoire. I like having Victoire around, but she isn't in any of my classes. So I feel lonely most of the time. _

_I still haven't told Dad. The full moon is coming up, he doesn't need the worry. _

_Love,_

_Teddy_

_Teddy_

_Give Chester some time to calm down, then apologize to him for calling him an idiot. I know he has not gone about dealing with all this in the best possible way, but he is your best friend and he was only trying to stand up for you. He never has been the most sensible boy I've ever come across, but then again neither are you, sometimes. Take the good with the bad and stick by him. Maybe Victoire can help you explain what he did wrong, she is good at that sort of thing, isn't she? _

_Don't let anybody upset you, love. Dad wrote yesterday to ask me to visit Gringotts for your Hogsmeade trip when I get home, he hasn't the time to go himself and he claims to be down to his last knut. I'll send you a few extra galleons this time, that way you can buy yourself some extra sweets. Have a wonderful time and make sure you speak to Chester before you go. _

_And like I said, don't be silly, go and talk to Dad!_

_Lots of Love_

_Mum _

_Dear Mum,_

_Thanks for the pocket money, but I decided not to go to Hogsmeade. I don't feel like going, I'm sick of people staring at me. At least the castle is nearly empty because everybody else has gone, that way I don't have to put up with the whispering. _

_I haven't spoken to Chester for days, he is making lots of new friends and I don't like going to talk to him in front of them. He probably hates me just as much as they do by now, anyway. _

_I am going to save the money for the holidays, maybe we can go for ice cream or something, I'd like that. _

_It's full moon tonight. I still didn't tell Dad._

_Love_

_Teddy_

A small stack of parchment landed upon the desk in front of him, and Teddy Lupin was jolted from his thoughts. The boy looked down and recognized the letters that he had sent to his mother. On top there lay a note that he did not recognize:

_I've sent your letters to Dad._

_X_

The child turned around and looked up. His father stood looking down at him, arms crossed across his chest, an eyebrow raised.

And at the sight of him, Teddy felt as though his composure was about to crumble.

Remus reached to pick up the letters, stuffing them unceremoniously into the pocket of his robes.

"Come on," he murmured, reaching to take hold of his son by the arm and pull him to his feet.

As he found himself being led towards the exit of the school library by a firm hand upon his shoulder, Teddy swallowed the lump in his throat and asked:

"Where are we going?"

"Hogsmeade." came the simple response as they stepped out from the jungle of bookcases and headed past the librarian's desk to the door.

Teddy planted his feet firmly upon the floor, bringing the two of them to a firm halt.

"No, Dad, I'm not going..."

"And why not?"

At this question, Teddy wanted to scream. He didn't want to think about it, go over it, he wanted to try and think of something else...

"Because!" he cried, throwing his hands up in frustration, face contorted miserably.

"Because you'd rather sit around staring aimlessly at bookcases and reading a bunch of dull Defense textbooks?" Remus inquired dryly, and Teddy's hands balled into fists.

"I like reading those books!" he protested somewhat half-heartedly, though if he were honest he could not seem to concentrate to read much at all.

"Of course you don't, Theodore." his father reasoned, sounding infuriatingly certain as he resumed walking, half dragging the boy along behind him. "They're old and boring and they don't have enough pictures in them..."

"You don't believe that! You like reading them!"

The professor chuckled under his breath as they began to make their way down the corridor towards the marble staircase.

"Well of course, but that's irrelevant. After all, I am a boring old man, I'm allowed to be boring, the name rather gives it away..."

"Dad...please..."

"You, on the other hand, are much too young for such tedious pursuits. Now come on, there is something important I want to show you."

By the time they had walked down to the village and were making their way along the main street, talk had turned to mundane things, such as whether or not they would brave the crowds in the Three Broomsticks, and which sweets they going to buy in Honeydukes. They had argued the whole way along the road to the shop in question, and Teddy was just about to reinforce his firm belief that acid pops, even if one ignored the fact that they could burn a hole through your tongue, were utterly vile, when Remus came to an abrupt halt and said:

"Stop."

Teddy stopped walking and looked up at his father questioningly, and the werewolf gestured back to the street behind them.

"Do you see what you've just done?" he said as Teddy looked down the street that was crowded with Hogwarts students.

"What have I just done?" the boy asked, looking back at the professor, expression clueless.

"You've walked though this village," Remus told him, "and passed twenty three other students without giving them a single glance or thought."

Teddy looked back down the street again, squinting somewhat disbelievingly at the crowd of black robes.

"Were they staring at me?" he asked worriedly, but Remus simply shrugged.

"What does it matter whether or not they were staring at you? You didn't even notice if they were."

Teddy opened his mouth to protest, only for Remus to turn back to the direction in which they were walking. He seemed to be gazing off into the distance, lost for a moment, and Teddy turned to see what he was looking at. The child's gaze came to rest upon the Shrieking Shack, the rickety, ramshackle building a gloomy crown upon a hilltop.

"When you feel tempted to despair, Teddy, you must find yourself a solid defense." Remus told him as he stared up at the infamous structure grimly. He gestured up the hill as he said: "That's what the Shrieking Shack is, Ted, it's my defense. I gained a good, solid education because of that building. I can look after myself, defend myself, have the world throw me into the gutter and survive. I don't care what people might think of what I am, because I know myself far better than they do. I worked hard at school and passed with good grades, and I knew as soon as I stepped out into the world that I was perfectly capable, that I had a sound head upon my shoulders and I could work hard. I told myself I could achieve more than most if somebody gave me the chance. Nobody gave me a chance, Teddy, not for a long time. But it didn't matter, I didn't despair, because I believed that I _could_ do it, and that was what was important." The werewolf turned to fix his son with a questioning look as he asked: "So then, Theodore, what is your defense?"

Teddy shuffled his feet and gave a small shrug.

"I dunno..." he mumbled, frowning deeply.

"Those people this "prophecy" mentions, those who accept me not, do you hate them?"

"Well...I guess..."

"Really? You really _hate_ them? If you could make them all vanish forever, that would make you happy?"

"No..."

"Why not?"

"I...they don't deserve it."

"Why not?"

"They're ignorant. They're just ignorant, I...I don't hate them. I feel sorry for them."

"Well then, Teddy, that is your defense. How can you bring terrible retribution down upon people who you feel sorry for? You can't. You're not bitter, you're not angry, therefore this so called prophecy cannot apply to you. Now people may think otherwise, you set fire to the common room and your father is a dark creature, so you may forgive their assumptions. But you know that they are wrong. Remember that, Teddy, and everything will turn out well for you."

"You think the prophecy is real, then?" Teddy asked, studying Remus' face carefully, but the werewolf merely shrugged.

"Real or not real, it doesn't apply to you. Just hold your head high and be sure of yourself. Now come along, they'll be selling out of licorice wands..."

As he followed his father into the sweet shop, Teddy did not notice the staring of those inside. He was much too busy musing upon Remus' answer to his question.

Remus hadn't said the prophecy was definitely fake.

And if it was real, but didn't apply to Teddy, the boy mused, it could apply to somebody else...


	8. The New Golden Trio

_Note: There are spoilers for **Blood, Lies and Letters** and **Without a Trace** in the chapter, you have been warned!_

_I apologize for my lack of updates, and for the fact that this is a rather short chapter. Hopefully I will be swifter and lengthier next time! Thank you to those of you who reviewed the last chapter, you always brighten my day!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing. _

**8: The New Golden Trio**

Crouched down upon the cold stone floor as he attempted to flatten himself up against the wall, Teddy Lupin slowly leant forward and peered out into the cobbled courtyard.

At the sight of the cluster of boys stood in the opposite corner, still chattering away to one another as they had been five seconds previously when Teddy had first peeked at them, the young Gryffindor gritted his teeth against a sigh.

"Come on!" he grumbled, hands balling into irritated fists. "Go to lunch already!"

"Mr. Lupin?"

At the sound of his name being called down the corridor, Teddy jumped, narrowly avoiding toppling backwards in surprise. He hastily scrambled to his feet and turned to look at the approaching teacher, plastering a neutral expression onto his face.

"Hello Professor Budden!" he greeted as the transfiguration teacher came to a halt, eying him somewhat suspiciously.

"What were you doing, Mr. Lupin?" Professor Budden asked, reaching to itch his pointy black beard with a small frown.

Teddy's mouth fell open slightly as he struggled to reply.

_I was just spying on my best friend and his friends because I want to talk to him, but only if he's on his own..._

"I was tying my shoelaces."

Professor Budden grinned.

"That's a good idea." he told the boy as he set off down the corridor again. "Genes like yours, Mr. Lupin, you need all the help you can get!"

Sniggering, Teddy was about to call after the professor to ask how he knew about his mother's clumsy tendencies when another question occurred to him. It had been something that he had first thought to ask his father, but it occurred to him that Professor Budden might be able to answer equally as well.

"My genes are interesting, aren't they Professor?" he called after the teacher, bringing him to a halt again. Teddy took a few steps after him as he was fixed with a questioning look. "I mean...what with my dad being a werewolf. I bet...I bet that doesn't happen very often, does it?

Professor Budden gave a snort.

"Merlin, no!"

"My dad says you used to work at the Werewolf Support Centre during the War." Teddy recalled, and Budden frowned deeply as he recalled:

"For a little, yes. Before Greyback and his lot reduced it to rubble."

"You've met loads of werewolves, then. Did you ever meet any like my dad? Ones who got married and had children?"

Budden shook his head without much thought.

"I'd not be surprised if your father was the only one in living memory, Mr. Lupin. Not got a lot going for them, most werewolves. Not really marriage material..." he shuffled his feet a little awkwardly and mumbled: "I best be going...staff meeting..."

As the teacher swept off down the corridor, Teddy let out a heavy sigh of disappointment.

_Never mind_, he thought to himself as he heard footsteps behind him, _maybe Dad knows of somebody..._

Somebody had come to a halt just behind him.

Teddy spun around, eyes coming to rest upon the boy who stood, hands shoved awkwardly in his pockets.

"Hi..." Chester mumbled, and Teddy glanced past him into the courtyard to find that the other boys were openly staring at them. Teddy turned back to Chester and told himself that he didn't care.

"Hello..."" he mumbled back, shoving his own hands into his pockets too. His fellow Gryffindor pursed his lips together thoughtfully for a moment before finally informing the werewolf's son:

"I think you're a git."

Teddy didn't quite know what he was supposed to say, so he simply stared.

"I think you're an ungrateful git and sometimes I think you don't deserve to be my friend because all you ever do it treat me like I'm an idiot."

Teddy opened his mouth to deny he did anything of the sort, but Chester ignored him.

"I stick up for you when Lynch takes the piss, I stopped everybody picking on you for putting him in the Hospital Wing, I looked after you that time you were being a sissy thinking your parents were getting divorced, I told your dad about the pensieve that time so he could help you out, and I got myself put in detention over and over to skip lessons and cheer you up when your dad was in the hospital. And what do I get? You treat me like crap!"

Again, Teddy was silent. He looked down at his shoes, ashamed.

"But somebody's got to put up with you." Chester concluded, causing Teddy's eyes to snap back up to look at him. "You're too much of a wuss to put up with stuff on your own and you can't have Victoire Weasley as your best friend...she's a _girl_!"

At last, Teddy cracked a smile.

"Thanks, Ches..." he began, only for a call from outside to cause him to trail off into silence.

"Chester!"

Both boys turned to regard the speaker, a blonde haired Hufflepuff boy who had taken a step out of the cluster of staring third years. He motioned somewhat hurriedly to Chester as he called:

"C'mon, we're going to lunch!"

"Let's go, Ted." Chester announced as he began to hurry back towards the group, and Teddy paused, eying the hostile, staring boys worriedly. When Chester looked back at him expectantly, he took a few reluctant steps forward.

"I um...I don't think you should come..." the boy called, sounding somewhat pleading as he shuffled back a few steps, and Teddy saw Chester's shoulders visibly tense.

"Of course he should come!" Chester cried, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "He's probably as hungry as the rest of us, what do you want him to do, go wait outside the kitchens and hope a house elf sees him?"

The boys exchanged nervous glances. Teddy was just considering pretending that he was not hungry when Chester seemingly lost his temper.

"Look!" he bellowed, hands balling into furious fists, "I already told you, that Moirai girl is a bloody nutter! She's totally loopy, I bet she couldn't even predict her own _birthday_!"

At this final exclamation, Teddy couldn't help it, he burst out laughing, wrapping his arms around his stomach as it ached with amusement.

At his laughter, the boys looked more alarmed than ever. Chester march back to Teddy, reaching to grab hold of him by the arm.

"Let's go this way!" he muttered darkly, and Teddy found himself being dragged back through the doorway and down a corridor.

"Thanks for sticking up for me, Ches." the metamorphmagus managed halfway down the corridor, having finally managed to halt his laughter. He tried to slow their pace a little so that he could fix his friend with a sincere look, he felt he owed Chester that much at least, but Chester was too busy glaring ahead of them to notice.

"I don't know why you had to laugh so hysterically," he grumbled, though there seemed to be a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Now they probably think you're a proper psycho! Anyway, I need to ask you something. Have you done that History essay yet?"

"I did it on Wednesday." Teddy recalled, causing Chester to puff his cheeks in exasperation.

"Bloody hell!" the muggle born exclaimed as they rounded a corner. "Binns only set it that morning! See, I told you! this is what happens when you leave a wuss to deal with their own problems. They hide away from everybody and do pathetic stuff like writing homework essays and reading textbooks!"

Teddy opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it.

"Anyway...I was wondering...can I borrow your essay?" Chester asked hopefully, and Teddy rolled his eyes.

"Are you going to copy it?"

"Nah, of course I won't...well...not all of it, at least..." At Teddy's raised eyebrow, Chester elaborated: "I'll change _by Theodore Lupin_ to by _Chester Burton_."

With a sigh that did little to hide his amusement, Teddy told him:

"I'll give it to you later, there's something I've got to tell you first. But we have to find Victoire before I can tell you."

"Why?" Chester asked, face contorting a little in irritation, for he was not a great fan of girls. They were all together a bit too silly for his liking and they talked far too much.

"Because," Teddy said as they reached the marble staircase and began to hurry down the stairs, ignoring the stares of a group of passing Slytherins, "three heads are better than one!"

The two boys spotted second year Victoire sat at the Gryffindor table with a number of her friends, busy selecting an assortment of sandwiches from a silver platter. When they approached, she turned to look at them with a bright smile, shifting up the bench to make room for them.

"Move up, Emma!" she told the girl beside her, only for Emma and the other two girls to hastily get to their feet and mumble something about some Potions homework that they had all yet to finish. Teddy was glad to see that Victoire seemed unfazed by their hasty retreat towards the Entrance Hall, instead she turned to regard the two boys again before telling Chester:

"Keep that look on your face and it'll get stuck that way forever if the wind changes direction."

Chester, who had been busy glowering at the girls' retreating backs, turned to direct his scowl at her instead. As Teddy sat down beside the silvery blonde haired girl, Chester announced:

"That's such a girl thing to believe! I bet one of your girl friends told you that!"

"Actually," Victoire told him, reaching to gather up a few sandwiches to dump onto Teddy's plate. "It's what my mum says to Dominique whenever she throws a tantrum."

"I bet you and your sister believe her, too." Chester grumbled as he sat down, and Teddy rolled his eyes so that Victoire could see. Before the Christmas Holidays, Victoire and Chester had got on reasonably well on the few occasions that the three of them had spent time together. Chester seemed to have come to realize what Teddy had known pretty much ever since he had first played with Victoire out in the garden of The Burrow, when they had both been in nappies: Victoire Weasley was not a girly girl. Of course to most observers she appeared to be exactly that; she took great care of her appearance, she liked to paint her nails a different colour every few days, she wore skirts and dresses, owned and fussed over a exceedingly fat and fluffy tabby cat, and liked the colour pink.

But in truth liking pink gave away nothing: Tonks had pink hair most days and Teddy could think of at least a hundred other words more appropriate to describe his mother than girly, as a matter of fact Teddy himself was quite fond of the colour (not that he would ever admit this to Chester.) And just because she dressed like a girl and liked to start off the day looking perfectly smart, didn't mean that Victoire was a girly girl. She was perfectly happy to finish the day looking as grubby and muddy as any self respecting boy, she was not adverse to the odd hexing or two; and whilst her little sister had carefully brushed her cuddly toy kneazles' fur and tucked them up in their cardboard box house, eight year old Victoire's toy dragon had swept across the girls' bedroom and, with a blood curdling roar, ripped the cardboard roof clean off of the structure and tossed it across the room.

No, Victoire Weasley was not a girly girl. And for this very reason, Chester Burton had liked her.

But over the Christmas holidays, when his Auntie Linda's horde of female offspring had descended upon his house for two whole weeks, Chester's tolerance for the female race had been battered and beaten beyond recognition until he seemed unable to tolerate girls in any real capacity at all.

Luckily, Teddy thought, Victoire seemed to have accepted this alteration with perfect, girlish grace and seemed to find it bordering on amusing. And so Teddy ignored Chester's grumbling in order to tell them both about the conversation that he had had with Remus about the prophecy and his disappointment that Professor Budden had not seemed to know anything else of interest.

"So...so you reckon there's some other kid at Hogwarts with a werewolf as a father?" Chester concluded, seemingly forgetting his irritation to be sat with Victoire as his eyes lit up at the prospect of excitement.

"Maybe...or outside of Hogwarts, perhaps. Moirai never said it had to happen here, did she?"

"No..." Victoire mused, taking a small bite of her cheese and pickle sandwich in thought. "She didn't, which makes this all much more difficult." she mumbled as she chewed, tapping her fingers thoughtfully upon the table. "You better ask your dad about it, Teddy Bear. See if that gets us anywhere."

Now that he had Chester back on side and Victoire to help him puzzle things out, Teddy felt a sudden surge of enthusiasm for their little investigation, and he stuffed the remainders of his sandwich into his mouth before jumping to his feet.

"I'll go and ask him now!" he announced excitedly, but when Chester too got to his feet, preparing to pile up a few sandwiches to eat on their way, Victoire said:

"Go on your own, Teddy, he's bound to tell you more on your own."

"What am I supposed to do?" Chester asked, sounding bordering on insulted, and his face contorted irritably when the girl offered him a bright smile and told him:

"You're going to come with me to the library, we've got some reading to do!"

Teddy failed to suppress a rather mocking chuckle at the repulsed expression upon Chester's face at the idea of having to read a book that wasn't part of his homework, and as he dashed away towards the Staff Room, ready to ambush Remus the moment he stepped out of the staff meeting, the werewolf's son felt yet another swell of excitement in his chest.

_There's a new Golden Trio at Hogwarts_, he told himself excitedly. _And we're going to solve this puzzle just as well as Harry, Ron and Hermione solved theirs... _


	9. The Warning

_Note: I would like to reveal that somewhere in this story so far is a Big Clue as to where this story is heading..._

_That's got you wondering, hasn't it?_

_Thanks to my reviewers!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of information._

**9: The Warning**

Teddy's excitement dulled a little after his long wait standing just outside of the staff room, and he was just beginning to think that the teachers' meeting would never end when at last the door opened and the teachers began to file out of the room, a few offered him a small nod as they passed, whilst the majority ignored him entirely. Crossing each professor off a mental list in his head, Teddy found that Remus and McGonnogal were the last to leave, but after Professor Flitwick, nobody else came out into the corridor. It was then that Teddy heard the Headmistress's voice from within.

"Remus?"

Shuffling forwards a few steps, Teddy peered into the room just in time to see his father come to a halt halfway across the room in order to turn his back on the door to look at Professor McGonnogal. The elderly witch had an envelope clutched firmly in both hands, her grip causing the paper to pucker and crease.

Teddy glanced up the corridor just in time to see Professor Flitwick disappear around the corner, and so he shuffled forwards and pressed himself up against the wall, listening intently.

"I've...I've had a letter from the Ministry." the boy heard the Headmistress announce warily. "From the Office of the Werewolf Registry, to be precise. They say they mean to...visit Hogwarts later today."

Teddy peered around the corner again and could just about make out Remus dropping down into an armchair, reaching to run a hand through his hair with an audible sigh.

"Has this to do with Moirai Cantrall?" he asked, and McGonnogal gave a small nod.

"That and the attacks the Prophet reported yesterday, I suspect. They're doing the rounds."

_Attacks_? Teddy frowned deeply and silently cursed the fact that he had shunned his usual reading of the Daily Prophet the previous morning, in favour of sulking in bed for an extra half an hour. He had heard nothing about any attacks...

Why had Remus not mentioned them in Hogsmeade?

"Who are they sending?" Remus asked, and the Headmistress sounded distinctly displeased when she replied:

"Artemis Carrow-Smyth."

"For the love of Merlin...!" Remus muttered, and Teddy felt his heart begin to race at the mention of the name Carrow.

"I know." McGonnogal muttered, and Remus got to his feet, shaking his head somewhat despairingly. "Still, they've nothing on you, it's just routine questioning, I expect."

"Artemis Carrow Smyth doesn't do routine questioning." Remus told her darkly, and Teddy hurriedly ducked back around the corner as the werewolf turned and began to walk towards the door. "Dora says Kingsley's forever calling him into his office and complaining about his manner. They can't get rid of him, though, they can't get a majority vote from the Wizengamot to sack him."

"I'm sure you'll be fine." McGonnogal called after him, tone not nearly as confident as Teddy would have liked. Teddy was just backing off down the corridor a little, ready to pretend to be passing by when he heard the Headmistress call again: "Remus?"

Remus paused in the doorway to look over his shoulder.

"Minerva?"

"Try not to let him haul you off to Azkaban for no decent reason, will you?"

Remus' rather grim chuckle sent a shiver down Teddy's spine, and he felt so overwhelmed by this sudden, confusing development that he quite forgot to start walking. When he finally blinked himself out of his panic, he found that Remus had come to a halt outside of the room and was staring at him, eyebrow raised.

"Hi Dad..." the boy mumbled awkwardly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I was just coming to look for you..."

"Really?" As he turned to lead the way up the corridor, Remus sounded distinctly disbelieving. "Well, you've found me."

"Yep..."

"Did you happen to find Professor McGonnogal too?"

At this question, Teddy flinched.

"No..." he mumbled, and when Remus glanced round at him, more disbelieving still, he mumbled: "Well...I might have." He waited to see if Remus was at all angry, or whether he was going to scold him for eavesdropping, but the werewolf said nothing for a long moment. Teddy jumped at the chance to divert the conversation from his misbehavior, so he asked:

"Who's Artemis Carrow-Smyth?"

"He's in charge of keeping the Werewolf Registry up to date."

"Is he related to Amycus and Alecto Carrow?" Teddy hurried to catch up with his father, looking up at him as Remus frowned thoughtfully.

"They are his...second cousins, I believe." The werewolf glanced down at his son's worried expression before adding: "I don't imagine he ever met them. He certainly wasn't a Death Eater."

"What did Professor McGonnogal mean by attacks? Who's been attacked?"

"The Prophet didn't give names, but Ministry workers have been approached and threatened. Whoever did it was wanted to know their reasons for accessing the Werewolf Registry. And what with Moirai Cantrall's parents announcing her prophecy to anybody who'll listen...well...the Ministry are worried there is a connection, I suspect. Maybe they think somebody is trying to protect this...child Moirai mentioned, trying to stop people finding out who they are."

"And...Artemis Carrow-Smyth thinks...thinks you've got something to do with it?"

"What he thinks is irrelevent, Teddy. I've nothing to tell him."

"How come McGonnogal's worried he'll chuck you into Azkaban then?"

Remus chuckled darkly again, his eyes fixed upon the corridor ahead.

"That was a joke."

"It didn't sound like a very good one."

"No," Remus agreed, voice little more than a sharply exhaled breath that Teddy could barely make out. "It wasn't." He cleared his throat meaningfully, and his tone was instantly lighter. "Artemis Carrow-Smyth is not a great fan of mine..."

"Why?"

"That doesn't really matter, the point is he can dislike me as much as he likes, I haven't done anything wrong. You just forget about him, Teddy. This is all going to blow over soon enough, they'll conclude the prophecy is false, or they'll work out what it means and arrest whoever needs arresting. We can forget the entire thing."

"What about the person attacking the people from the Ministry?"

Remus shrugged somewhat impatiently as they rounded the corner, heading for the Defense Office.

"There are plenty of werewolves who want the Register destroyed all together, Teddy. They think it an infringement of their rights, they don't want employers or the Ministry checking up on them all the time, or to feel like they've been branded. This was probably just some form of protest, it's happened before in the past."

Teddy frowned at the realization that his father seemed to be using lots of words like probably and maybe. It wasn't like Remus to use such speculation, either he knew something for sure or he kept his mouth shut. The boy could not help but wonder if he was being entirely frank and honest. He wanted to tell Chester and Victoire everything he had heard, to see what they made of it, but before he could make his escape he remembered why he had sought out his father in the first place.

"Dad, I was wondering, do you know any other werewolves like you? Who have children?"

Remus was silent for such a long moment that Teddy wondered if he had heard the question.

"Dad...?" he tried, and with that Remus sighed heavily, coming to an abrupt halt. The werewolf turned to face his son, his expression uncharacteristically stern.

"No, I don't." he told the boy somewhat bluntly, and Teddy felt his father's hands come to rest heavily upon his shoulders.

"I was only wondering..." the boy mumbled, taken aback, only for Remus to shake his head.

"No, Theodore, you were not only wondering. You want to work out who the Dark Creature's child is. Well, I'm telling you now, your curiosity ends here."

Teddy stared at him, wide eyed for a long moment as he digested this surprisingly blunt tone.

"But...if I figure it out, everybody will stop thinking I..."

"No, Theodore." Remus interrupted, his gaze so piercing that Teddy instantly fell silent. "I am being deadly serious. Listen to me, and listen carefully. None of this has anything to do with you, and to make it otherwise would be downright foolish, especially now that the Ministry is involved. Divination is a fluffy, inconsistent discipline, do not give anybody any reason to misinterpret the situation."

"But Dad..."

"No buts. Don't risk getting yourself into trouble! Merlin knows you don't want to get on the wrong side of Carrow-Smyth! Upset him and you upset half the members of the Wizengamot! Keep your head down and let the Ministry sort everything out. Do you understand?"

"I guess..." Teddy instantly regretted sounding sulky, for Remus' eyes widened in frustration and his grip upon the boy's shoulders tightened.

"I mean it, Theodore. No investigating, no curiosity, no wondering! I forbid it. I absolutely forbid it."

At this final declaration, Teddy gave an involuntary shudder. He was pretty sure that Remus had never forbidden him to do anything in his whole entire life. Of course there were things he shouldn't do; he shouldn't avoid eating his greens at dinner, he shouldn't let Chester copy his homework, he shouldn't swear. There were even things that Remus said he couldn't do; he couldn't play with his fanged frisbee inside the house, he couldn't play out in the woods after dark, and he couldn't stay downstairs in the evening once a month to watch his parents prepare for the coming full moon.

But Remus had never actually forbid him anything. Let alone absolutely forbid...

"Okay, Dad." Teddy agreed, forcing himself to look up into the werewolf's eyes. "I won't do anything, I promise." As he held his father's gaze, it dawned on the child that Remus was not furious as he had first seemed. Watching relief spread across his face, Teddy realized that he had been worried, panicked. Teddy was not sure whether this made him feel any better, it merely increased his suspicions that Remus' assurances that everything would work itself out were false. He felt nervous about Artemis Carrow-Smyth turning up to ask Remus questions, no matter how innocent the werewolf was.

As if he could read the child's thoughts, Remus sighed heavily, patting his son reassuringly upon the shoulder.

"I know you won't. You're a sensible boy." he said, smiling faintly.

"Mum doesn't think so." Teddy said, smiling back at him in an attempt to lift the atmosphere. "She said so in her letter the other day."

"Yes, well," Remus' smile widened as he turned and began to lead the boy down the corridor, hand still upon his shoulder. "Sensibility is not part of your mother's every day vocabulary, she doesn't know what she's talking about."

Teddy sniggered, glad of the easy conversation after such a dire warning.

"Can we have hot chocolate?" he asked hopefully, for sitting down in his father's office to talk over a mug of hot chocolate always made him feel better, no matter what the circumstances were.

"There's a bag of marshmallows in my desk."

Teddy was pretty sure nobody had ever felt as delighted by the mention of marshmallows as he had just then. He was just compiling a mental list of questions he wanted to pose to his father; _what are the actual chances of you being arrested? Are you worried about talking to this Carrow-Smyth man? Why does he hate you so much? This has nothing to do with the Child, it's more about you __than anybody else_; when they rounded the final corner and spotted somebody waiting for them by the office door.

The waiting man looked, Teddy thought, rather like an upper class scarecrow. He had a thin, pinched face and a shock of straw-like blonde hair that stuck out at all angles, as if a bird had made it's nest atop his head. His dark green, velvet robes hung limply on his skeletal body as he stood, arms folded across his chest. He stared at father and son through mismatched, beady eyes.

Teddy felt Remus' hand withdraw from his shoulder and, with the unsettling gaze of Artemis Carrow-Smyth upon them, the werewolf's son felt the loss of the assuring weight acutely.

"Remus Lupin?" the man inquired as they neared him, and teddy thought his voice sounded somehow serpent-like.

"Yes..." As they neared the door, Remus reached to give Teddy a gentle push to keep him walking down the corridor. "Go back to Gryffindor Tower, Teddy."

"And Theodore, I believe." Carrow-Smyth observed as Teddy passed him, causing the boy to pause and look up at him. Teddy immediately wished that he had kept walking; for the man's staring with mismatched eyes, one dark grey, the other a blank, milky white, was unnerving.

"Theodore has homework to be getting on with." Teddy felt Remus' hand press against his back, and the child fixed his gaze upon his feet and began to march himself away down the corridor.

"He looks like Tonks." Teddy heard the man observe, and he could not help but get the impression that this was a fact that Carrow-Smyth found sickening in some way.

"Don't we all?" Remus murmured as he reached to open the door. "Shall we?"

As soon as he heard the door closing behind them, Teddy broke out into a run, heading straight to the library to find Chester and Victoire.


	10. Protecting the Protector

_Note: For **Gelly Bean**, who is responsible for my less than speedy update because she has distracted me with pretty pictures! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**10: Protecting the Protector**

"Well..." From his position sprawled upon an armchair in the Gryffindor Common Room, Chester Burton puffed his cheeks thoughtfully, tilting his head back so that he could stare up at the stone ceiling. "This Carrow-Smyth bloke sounds like a right prat."

Teddy paused briefly in his pacing up and down before the fireplace in order to shoot his friend an irritated look, unimpressed by this summary of his long speech.

"Well he's not." Victoire retorted darkly, abandoning the strand of hair that she had been fiddling with throughout Teddy's account. "If Artemis Carrow-Smyth wants to use this whole affair as a reason to get Uncle Remus into trouble...well..." she trailed off into silence as Teddy turned to pace back towards her, her gaze averted from his eyes upon her.

"Well what?" Teddy asked, folding his arms expectantly over his chest as he came to a halt. The space before the fireplace was not a great length, his short pacing was beginning to make his head spin.

"Well...Uncle Remus is probably screwed." Victoire concluded reluctantly, frowning down at the crimson rug upon which she sat.

"No he isn't!" Teddy protested angrily as Chester sucked in a sharp breath behind him. "My dad's record is squeaky clean! And he told me it doesn't matter what Smyth thinks because he's not done anything wrong! He told me there's nothing to worry about..."

"Well he would say that, wouldn't he Ted?" Victoire interrupted impatiently, reaching to pick at a loose thread upon her skirt in frustration. "He's your dad..."

"My dad doesn't lie to me!" Teddy insisted, stamping a foot in emphasis as he attempted to disregard his suspicions from back in the corridor.

"Of course he does! He's a father, they all do it!"

"You're wrong!"

"He's trying to protect you, Teddy."

There was a long silence as Teddy gritted his teeth against further hysteria, screwing his eyes shut for a moment before sighing heavily.

"He hasn't done anything wrong." he complained, hands upon his hips as he eyed each of his friends in turn, as if daring them to disagree with him. "He's got nothing to do with those attacks, or that stupid prophecy! I'm not the Child!"

"We know, Teddy mate." Chester assured him soberly as Victoire nodded in hasty agreement.

"My dad's been protecting me since before I was _born_." Teddy announced, eyes widening in passionate emphasis. "He never lets anything bad happen to me if he can help it, not _ever_! But who's protecting him? Mum's away again for Merlin knows how long, she probably doesn't even know what's happening! And they wouldn't even listen to her or Harry or the others anyway! They'll say they're all biased! Dad can try and protect me all he likes, but there's nobody protecting _him_! He can't keep me safe all the time if the Ministry chuck him into Azkaban, can he? That's why I can't listen to him. _I _have to protect him, Vic, otherwise he can't keep on protecting me." Teddy's expression hardened resolutely as he told his friends: "I _will_ find the real Child."

There was a long silence as Victoire stared up at him admiringly and Chester scrambled into a more upright, serious pose.

"Actually, Teddy mate," the muggle born told his best friend. "We will."

"Chester's right," Victoire said, leaping enthusiastically to her feet and reaching to grab a book from the sofa behind her. "And we know just where to look!" She opened the book at a bookmarked page and thrust it under Teddy's nose.

_The Introduction of the Werewolf Registry_, Teddy read the bold title at the top of the page, before Victoire's finger came to point at a sub heading some three-quarters of the way down the page: _The Register Today_.

"They still keep all sorts of information about werewolves on the Register." Victoire told him. "It says here that discrimination by employers or courts is illegal these days, but the register's still pretty intrusive. The Ministry still want to keep an eye on people, what with there having been a lot of werewolves supporting Voldemort and being bitter about the previous legislation. They have to notify the Ministry if they move house, or travel abroad somewhere. If they fail to declare stuff as they should, the Ministry gives them a formal warning, and if they get found out again it goes on their permanent record and they get fined."

Chester gave a snort.

"I thought there was supposed to be equality these days, what with Shacklebolt in charge."

"It's not as bad as it sounds." Teddy reasoned as Victoire tossed the book back onto the sofa. "Back before the reforms, when they were still rounding up Greyback's lot, we used to get the Ministry hammering on the door every month asking loads of questions. I remember the time they knocked when Dad was over at The Burrow...I must've only been about two, but I remember being utterly terrified. Mum must've said Dad wasn't in and the Ministry man totally lost his temper with her, they yelled at each other so loudly it frightened me to tears. Then Mum slammed the door in his face. These days people just have to write to the Registry themselves, they don't come and poke their noses in very often, in fact sometimes they're helpful, they have a list of approved apothecaries that they fund to supply affordable Wolfsbane and they can refer people to help centers and stuff."

"There's one problem with the Register." Victoire told the two boys as she dropped down to sit upon the sofa. "It's not open to public viewing. Only Ministry employees with valid request forms can see it."

"And even if we could see it, we're stuck here at school." Chester added, and Teddy pursed his lips together thoughtfully.

"We'll have to think of something." the werewolf's son decided, reaching to scratch his head.

"First, though, I say we go and check on your dad." Victoire said, getting back to her feet and heading straight for the portrait hole. "Make sure Carrow-Smyth hasn't managed to arrest him or anything."

As the two boys followed her, Chester asked:

"Do you think we could ask him about the Register? He must know a lot about it."

"I think if I so much as mutter the word werewolf within earshot of him, he'll know I'm up to something."

"But he doesn't know I'm up to something too." Victoire pointed out, shooting the boys an exaggerated smile, batting her eyelids innocently. "He'd suspect Chester, yes, but not me."

Teddy pressed his lips together against laughter as Chester looked utterly revolted by this statement.

"She's right." Teddy admitted as they headed down the steps, offering the Fat Lady a smile as they went. "Vic's got my dad and the rest of her uncles wrapped around her little finger. The only one who sees through it is Uncle George. The rest think she's a little angel."

"Except for when she's hexing Orion's sister in the middle of Defense class, or helping us break into your dad's office. I bet he doesn't think she's an angel then."

"He's probably forgotten all about that by now." Victoire assured them confidently, jumping the last few steps down onto the landing before spinning around to face the boys. "Especially since I helped tidy up after Dueling Club two weeks in a row."

They continued on in silence for a long moment before Chester wondered aloud:

"How come Carrow-Smyth dislikes you dad so much then, Ted?"

"He wouldn't tell me why," Teddy recalled with a frown. "But I think it might have something to do with my mum."

There was only a momentary pause before Chester theorized:

"Maybe he fancies her...ouch!"

Teddy withdrew his fist from it's assault on his friend's arm and demanded:

"Shut up Chester!"

"I was only saying!" Chester whined, reaching to rub his now aching limb.

"Well don't! She's my MUM!"

"What's your point, Ted?" Victoire asked, turning to shoot him a questioning look. "Just because women have children doesn't mean they become instantaneously unattractive!"

Teddy shoved his hands furiously into his pockets, silently cursing his father's firm insistence that hitting girls was a crime punishable by Eternal Moral Damnation. Teddy had attempted to point out that Remus hadn't seemed to have had a problem with smacking Bellatrix one if he ever got the chance, but Tonks had pointed out that Remus had never been in the habit of having fist fights with Death Eaters, and besides, Bellatrix hadn't been a woman, she had been a Psychotic Evil Bitch from Hell. The debate had ended at that point, because his parents had immediately began a new one, regarding the relationship between how evil a person was and how rude one could consequently be about them in the presence of one's nine year old son.

"You know, Teddy Bear," Victoire continued, seemingly oblivious to Teddy's silent fury. "Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione were complaining about Carrow-Smyth at the dinner table one time a while back. I'd not heard of him before and I've not heard about him since, but I remember that conversation like it was yesterday because I felt unnerved by it."

"Why?" Chester asked eagerly, and Teddy winced a little in anticipation. He was not entirely sure he wanted to hear of any horror stories about the man who was so intent on causing his father trouble.

"I'm not sure...we were at my house, we had Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione round for dinner, and your parents too, Ted, and they were talking about this new Auror who'd just been accepted into the Department. Your mum had sent her down to the Werewolf Registry to look up something or other, and she'd come back all flustered and complained that Carrow-Smyth had been rude...or something...I don't remember exactly what. But I just remember watching Auntie Dora...she was sat opposite me...she didn't say a word throughout the whole conversation, which was odd enough because she always has something to say. But it wasn't like she was too busy eating or anything, either, because she didn't eat a mouthful of her dinner since they started talking. And then Uncle Ron said something like..._well he treats all the female staff like that, doesn't he Tonks?_ And then she just sort of shrugged and mumbled something before leaving the room. And I remember feeling unnerved, because I've never heard of anybody who could make Auntie Dora act like that."

Teddy was about to ask how Carrow-Smyth treated the female staff when Chester recalled:

"My cousin Emily goes a bit like that when we talk about cousin Ben's mate Steven. She got drunk at a party once and snogged him in front of his girlfriend...ex-girlfriend, I mean."

"Your cousin Emily snogs anything that moves, Ches." Teddy told the other boy rather impatiently. "It's disgusting." He was about to voice his burning question when he realized that they had arrived outside of Remus' office, so he decided to save it for later.

Teddy approached the door, Chester and Victoire just behind him, and raised his fist to knock upon the door, only to pause and draw in a deep, nervous breath.

What if Remus was gone? What if Carrow-Smyth had taken him away?

He was startled out of his thoughts when a fist reached over his shoulder and hammered loudly on the door. Teddy glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Chester fold his arms across his chest, eyebrows raised at his nerves, before a voice called:

"Who is it?"

Teddy felt relief wash over his at the sound of his father's voice and he leaned forward until his lips were practically brushing the wooden door before calling back:

"It's me, Dad."

There was a sizeable pause before Teddy heard a muffled voice murmur:

"Oh Merlin, not now..."

"Shhh. It's alright..."

Teddy was about to turn and whisper to his friends that Remus was not alone when he jumped back a step at the sound of a lock clicking and the door was pulled open a fraction.

The professor eyed the three children with a small smile, settling himself against the door frame as he observed:

"I am popular today, aren't I?"

As Victoire beamed up at him and Chester attempted to look equally as amiable, Teddy tried to

cover his curiosity about who it was he had heard speaking with a casual shrug.

"Just checking you've not been dragged kicking and screaming out of castle and into a prison cell." he explained brightly, reaching to shove his hands into his pockets.

Remus pressed his lips tightly together, whether against amusement or disapproval Teddy was unsure, before gesturing to himself with his free hand.

"No, I'm definitely still here." he decided, releasing his grip upon the door so that he could fold his arms across his chest. "And even if I wasn't...kicking and screaming? _Really_, Ted?"

"Well...yeah, you never know..." Teddy mumbled as Chester failed to suppress a snigger.

"I'd kick and scream if Artemis Carrow-Smyth so much as offered to escort me down a flight of stairs, let alone all the way to Azkaban!" Victoire declared, eyes widening in horror at the very idea. "He sounds dead creepy to me!"

"Quite..." Remus murmured, straightening up as the two boys nodded their agreement. "Well, should I come to find myself being dragged kicking and screaming out of the school gates, I shall no doubt remember to scream as loudly as my lungs will permit – that way you'll hear me and know what's going on."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Now if that's all, I best get back to work. I've got twenty essays to mark by tomorrow morning."

"Oh..." Teddy mumbled, automatically taking a step backwards, battling to attempt to think of something useful to say, only for Victoire to step past him, a particularly anguished expression upon her face.

"Actually, Uncle Remus," she practically whispered, voice suddenly strained as she glanced back at the two boys self-consciously. "I...I have a question."

Teddy was sure that Remus' posture slumped a little at this declaration, but he fixed a perfectly neutral expression upon his face and asked:

"What's that, Victoire?"

The little actress bit her lip in consideration for a long moment, before gazing up at him intently through long lashes.

"Well...well Ted says the Ministry are asking questions to loads of people who are on the Register."

"That's right."

"Who else is working on the case, then? Other than Carrow-Smyth?"

Remus frowned, fingers tapping thoughtfully upon his forearm.

"What about the Auror Department?" Victoire pressed. "Are they helping?"

"No." Of this one thing, Remus was apparently certain. "They wouldn't let your Aunt Dora's lot within a million miles of this one."

"Magical Law Enforcement, then?"

"That would be most likely."

Victoire let out a sigh of relief.

"Well that's good, then." she announced, brightening a little. "There will be plenty of people figuring things out. Somebody's bound to figure out the truth, aren't they?"

"I'm sure they will."

"Good. I was worried, when Teddy said you might end up in Azkaban."

"Me too," Chester interjected. "Mrs. Lupin would be totally pi..."

"Well then, if everything's okay we'll just leave you to your marking." Teddy announced rather loudly, as Victoire chose that moment to sneeze violently. "Stay out of trouble, won't you Dad?"

Again, Remus raised an eyebrow, seemingly unwilling to dignify this question with a proper response.

"Enjoy the rest of your weekend." he told them, and before they could offer much more than a collective mumble in response, he had disappeared behind a closed door.

"What kind of question was that?" Chester grumbled as they set off down the corridor again, Teddy lagging behind a little as he fumbled around in the pocket of his jacket.

"A very important one, actually!" Victoire announced, chin jutting out defiantly. "Besides, I couldn't think of anything else to ask...Teddy's right...it's difficult asking him things without sounding suspicious. Still, I'm sure we can figure things out on our own, right Teddy Bear?"

There was no response.

"Ted?" Victoire glanced over her shoulder, only to find that Teddy had come to a halt some distance back. He was staring down at a tatty looking piece of parchment with wide eyes.

"What's up?" Chester asked as he and Victoire hurried back to see what had the metamorphmagus so surprised.

"It's my mum." he breathed, eyes fixed upon a pair of still footprints upon the Marauders' Map.

"What?" Chester asked dimly as he came to a halt and squinted down at the map.

"It's my mum." Teddy repeated, reaching to prod at the map with his finger. "She's in the Defense office with Dad."

"I thought you said she was still in Cornwall or somewhere." Victoire recalled as she came to stand at Teddy's other side.

"I thought she was..." Teddy mumbled, frowning deeply. "It didn't sound like her just now, either. Her voice isn't usually that...squeaky..." When Chester looked as though he would snigger, Teddy gave him a warning glance before wiping the map clear with a mumble and a jab of his wand.

"I'll see you back in the common room." he told them as he hurriedly folded the map and shoved it back into his pocket. "I'm going to go and see what's going on."


	11. A New Mystery

_Note: There's a lot of sitting around talking in this chapter...sorry about that! It will get more interesting though, I promise!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing. _

**11: A New Mystery**

Extendable Ears were, Teddy was sure, quite possibly the most brilliant invention of the century.

However, despite this fact, wedging one underneath a door without drawing attention to one's self was decidedly less brilliant. Indeed, it took Teddy several minutes to persuade the rubbery contraption into the gap, and he began to wonder if, by the time he had it in place, his mother would have disappeared from the office via the floo.

As it was, when Teddy finally stooped to squint through the key hole, Extendable Ear at the ready, he found that Tonks was still there. She was sat upon the office chair, which was set aside from it's usual spot behind the desk. Remus stood side on before her, palms flat upon the desk behind him as he leaned back, gaze upon the ceiling.

"I think you're blowing this way out of proportion." the werewolf announced, which was seemingly not what his wife wanted to hear. Teddy watched her hands tighten around something scrunched up in her lap...a handkerchief, the child decided, before she looked up at Remus with wide, blotchy eyes.

"Do you know what I think, Remus?" she asked, voice an octave higher than usual. "I think we're going to be totally buggered when I get suspended from work and you get yourself locked up in Azkaban!"

"Kingsley isn't going to suspend you for something like this..."

"Are you bloody kidding me? It's probably going to end up all over tomorrow's Prophet, and Kingsley'll kick my arse for it!"

"That's ridiculous. I bet he's sitting in his office right now, laughing himself silly..."

"It's not funny!" Tonks snapped, slumping forwards to bury her face in her hands.  
At this sudden outburst, Remus' gaze dropped from the ceiling and he reached to put a hand upon her shoulder.

"Okay, love." he murmured, voice much softer. "You're right, it's not."

"What's Teddy going to think?" she mumbled into her hands, fingers grasping at strands of mousy hair in agitation. "What was I thinking, anyway? Harry should've...should've talked some sense into me! You...you must think...I'm an idiot!"

"Never."  
"You do...I know you do...you wouldn't have...have done it if it had been you! You'd not be such a...a bloody moron!"

Teddy watched his father reach to grasp both of her elbows before pulling her carefully up onto her feet, and she promptly slumped against him, her face buried in his shoulder.

"Yes, well," he murmured, wrapping his arms tightly around her, pressing a light kiss atop her head. "I happen to love my bloody moron of a wife. If she wasn't such a bloody moron, chances are she wouldn't be crazy enough to run through the middle of a full blown duel between a bunch of Aurors and Death Eaters in order to get to me. If she wasn't such a bloody moron, I'd probably be dead. Besides, we're all idiots where love and family are concerned, aren't we?"

"You still wouldn't have cursed him, though." Tonks insisted, drawing back to swipe at her eyes with a sleeve of her robes. "Admit it, you wouldn't touch a filthy hair on his head, no matter what rubbish he spouts." She stared up at him for a long moment until his expression, hidden from Teddy's view, caused her to snigger. "You liar!" she cried, misery momentarily forgotten as she slapped him rebukingly upon the arm. You didn't even get narked that time he bumped into us in the Leaky Cauldron!"

"Does that upset you?"

As Tonks frowned in consideration, Teddy was given a brief moment to wonder who they were referring to before the Head of Aurors offered her husband an exaggerated pout.

"Maybe..." she said, her gaze suddenly accusing.

"It wasn't my fault I had no idea what he was talking about." Remus protested with a shrug, causing her to draw back from him just enough to fold her arms across her chest.

"Maybe not, but you weren't even vaguely annoyed afterwards once I'd explained it to you! You didn't even care!" She jabbed a finger into his chest, and he caught hold of her hand in both of his own.

"Why should I care?" he asked mildly, and she wrenched her hand free in order to waggle her fingers in his face, candle light reflecting from the band of gold upon her finger.

"Because I'm your WIFE!" she exclaimed, clearly horrified by his careless:

"Well you weren't back then though, were you? I've no right to be upset about what went on back then, we'd never even met! If he'd been talking about something that had happened say...the previous day, for example...well, then I imagine I would be...unhappy."

"How unhappy?"

"Utterly devastated."

"Promise?"

"Of course. But as it happens he was talking about when you were at Hogwarts...now...my maths isn't perfect...but I'm pretty sure we got married a bit later on than that..."

Tonks reached to grasp the front of his robes, forehead coming to rest against his chest.

"You're a git." she muttered, and they both chuckled quietly to themselves.

There was a long pause as he gathered her up in his arms again, and she sighed heavily.

"I know I've been winding you up," he murmured after a moment, head bowed as his lips came to rest against her shoulder, causing Teddy to strain to make out his words. "But I do care, you know. And if you like, next I see him, no matter the circumstances...I'll hex his other one to match..."

As Teddy's mind raced at the countless possibilities of what his other one could be, Tonks dissolved into a fit of giggles, fists pounding pathetically against Remus' chest as she declared:

"I'll hex yours to match if you don't stop making me bloody laugh so much! This is meant to be serious!"

"It'll all blow over soon enough. Kingsley'll give you a slap on the wrists..."

"And a date to be in court, I bet."

"Well...maybe..."

"Remus!"

"Okay, okay. Kingsley'll haul you up in front of the Wizengamot, they'll grumble and look disapproving, tell you you're a disgrace to your profession..."

"Oh Merlin..."

"At which point you do not claim that Carrow-Smyth is a disgrace to his..."

"He doesn't have a profession, Remus, he sits behind a desk all day and glares at forms that people put down in front of him."

"You don't tell the Wizengamot that, either. You tell them you're terribly ashamed to have brought the Ministry into disrepute, and you hope your actions have not caused Carrow-Smyth any lasting injury..."

Tonks drew back again, eyes wide in mock horror as she asked:

"Are you trying to convince me to tell a bare faced lie in a court of law, Professor?"

"Then," Remus continued pointedly, ignoring her question, "we just hope for the best. The worst case scenario is they suspend you without pay and fine you for unprovoked assault..."

"It wasn't unprovoked!"

"...I end up in Azkaban for...a few weeks...a month, perhaps..."

"Minerva won't keep your salary that long..."

"No, she won't. She'll pay me a week or so, perhaps, but after that she'll split it between whoever covers my lessons. But we've savings enough to be getting on with..."  
"You told Teddy we'd take him on a big holiday abroad this summer."

"I know I did."

"I'm not sure we'll manage it, you know. We owe that silly healer woman a ridiculous amount for her home visits since you've been out of hospital. Not that she deserves a single sickle of it, I mean I could've sat there and told you to breathe in and out, it's not Legilimency for Merlin's sake!"

"Mmm..."

"Then of course we've got this fine, and then there's the hole in the roof, it's probably doubled in size since I left for Cornwall, I told you we should've gotten it fixed earlier..."

"We'll manage..."

"Yes manage, love. I don't want to just manage though, do I? I want to take our son to...I don't know...Australia, Spain, Greece or somewhere! Not...some grotty seaside resort for five days, sorry Sweetheart, this is the best it's going to get this year because your moron of a mum got our holiday savings from the past three years taken away! This was supposed to be it, Remus, the Big Family Holiday! I bet we don't even get a holiday at all, Kingsley's never going to give me the time off now, is he?"

"I'm sure he will, he hasn't forgotten all the good things you've done recently. And don't worry, I'm certain the fine won't be quite that hefty..."

"It will if the Wizengamot have anything to do with it, Carrow-Smyth's got them wrapped around his little finger..." Tonks' complaint was cut off by a firm kiss upon her lips, and behind the door, Teddy made to jerk away from the keyhole, only for Remus to draw away again and endeavor:

"I'll take you and Teddy on holiday this summer, for two weeks, anywhere you like, just like we told him. I promise."

"Anywhere I like?"

"Of course. It's not going to be a problem, you're overreacting. Things are different these days, aren't they? We don't have the goblins taking money from the vault without warning to pay off debts, we finished paying your mother back once you were promoted, and we've set aside half my salary every year since I got a job..."

"That's supposed to be Teddy's."

"Merlin..." Remus released her and moved to drop down into a chair beside the fireplace. "I thought I was supposed to be the paranoid one."

Tonks shuffled after him, leaning against the back of the chair, arms draped upon his shoulders.

"I know..." she mumbled, frowning deeply. "Merlin, I sound ridiculous, don't I? It's just...I feel guilty...stupid..."

"It's only a bit of gold."

At this, Teddy watched her arms come to wrap around his neck, her face instantly brightening.

"To think I'd ever hear you say that to me." she murmured, chin coming to rest atop his head. "I got through that thick skull of yours, didn't I?"

He reached to prize her arms from around him, towing her around the chair to perch upon the arm. Guessing where things were headed, Teddy retreated from the keyhole. It was some time before he heard Tonks mumble:

"Remus?"

"Mm?"

"What if...what if they sack me?"

There was a long pause.

"Well..." Teddy heard Remus muse brightly. "If they sack you...which they won't, I suppose you would have ample time to come and visit me in Azkaban."

As Teddy wandered back to Gryffindor Tower, he was not entirely sure how he ought feel about his family's current predicament. For one thing, he was dreading the arrival of the post the next morning, where he was likely to be informed of all the gruesome details of his mother's encounter with Carrow-Smyth by the Daily Prophet. Worse still was the prospect of the rest of the school find out, too.

And yet he could not quite decide how his parents were feeling about the whole business. He had been sure that Tonks had been in tears to begin with, and yet by the time she disappeared into the floo, she and Remus had seemingly been treating the whole affair like some sort of elaborate joke.

Except their kiss goodbye, when they had suddenly sobered and stared intently at one another for what felt to Teddy like an eternity, each insisting that the other should be careful, and each promising to be exactly that.

Teddy was also left wondering how he had managed to spend his entire childhood in ignorant bliss of the state of the family finances. He was pretty sure the word "debt" had never been so much as uttered under the Lupins' roof, and he felt oddly foolish at his complete lack of awareness. It seemed somewhat obvious to him, when he thought about it, that his father must have survived on money from somewhere prior to his marriage, but he had always imagined the problem to have disappeared almost instantaneously.

Silly, he thought to himself as he climbed the steps towards the Fat Lady's portrait.

And this business about Tonks' time at Hogwarts...what was that all about?

Teddy truly regretted posing this question to Chester and Victoire some half an hour later as they resumed their places beside the common room fireplace.

"Maybe your mum and Carrow-Smyth...you know..."

Teddy hurled the cushion that he had set down upon his lap in Chester's direction, hitting him directly in the face.

"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard in my whole entire LIFE!" the Head of Aurors' son cried, face contorted in revulsion. "Have you got any idea how UGLY this man is? And...and for the love of Merlin, Ches, what is it with you and my mum's bloody love life?"

As Chester muttered irritably under his breath, throwing the cushion to the floor, Victoire had the nerve to point out:

"They're probably about the same age, you know. Your mum and Carrow-Smyth."

"What's your point?" Teddy snapped, shooting her a furious scowl which she apparently failed to notice.

"Well...people aren't always born ugly, you know. I mean...my dad wasn't born with scars all over his face now, was he?"

"Yes, Vic, but your dad doesn't look like a cross between a zombie and a scare crow, and he doesn't have a creepy boiled-egg eye! There's no way my mum would fancy him, not in a million years! That would be...just...horrible!"

"Oh grow up, Teddy Bear!" Victoire demanded, rolling her eyes at his squirming. "Honestly, you're acting like a baby! And anyway, it doesn't really matter what the connection between them is, does it? What really matters is finding out who the Child is!"

"Vic's right." Chester agreed as Victoire rose from her chair. "We need to figure out how to get a look at the Werewolf Registry...which is still a total mystery since she asked your dad such a pointless question..."

"It wasn't pointless!" Victoire insisted as the two boys got to their feet too, ready to head down to the Great Hall for dinner. "We now know that only people working in the Magical Law Enforcement Department, not the Auror Department, are investigating the prophecy. And you must know plenty of people who work there, Ted, your mum must speak with them all the time! Not to mention the Prophet's bound to mention the investigation somewhere."

"So...what's the plan, then?" Chester asked, frowning deeply, and Victoire gestured to Teddy with a triumphant hand gesture.

"We can figure out who's allowed in to view the Register...one of us is a metamorphmagus...what do you think the plan is, Chester?"

Chester's face lit up in realization as Victoire turned on her heel to lead the way towards the portrait hole. Teddy lagged behind a good few steps. He didn't think much of the plan, though not because it wasn't clever. He was much too preoccupied with the thought of the arrival of the Daily Prophet the next morning.


	12. The House Dueling Champions

_Note: I'm sorry I have not updated, I was busy with Meet The Lupins! This chapter is also rather short, too...but it seemed like a good moment to end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**12: The House Dueling Champions**

_COURTROOM SUMMONS FOR DISGRACED HEAD OF AURORS_

_Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt has been forced to call for a disciplinary hearing, following the gross misconduct of Head of Aurors, Nymphadora Lupin, which has led to a number of Ministry employees to call for her resignation. _

_The incident in question occurred yesterday afternoon in the Ministry of Magic's Atrium, where it is alleged that the former Order of the Phoenix member cursed fellow Ministry employee Artemis Carrow-Smyth a total number of four times. Mr. Carrow-Smyth, administrative official of the Werewolf Registry, had been returning to his office, having just completed his questioning of Mrs. Lupin's husband, Professor Remus Lupin, in connection with both the recent attacks on Ministry employees, and the prophecy of Moirai Cantrall. _

_Whilst precise details of what occurred in the Atrium are unavailable to the press at this time, we can reveal that Mrs. Lupin left her current posting in Cornwall without warning to return to the Ministry, and this has lead many to believe that the attack was very much premeditated. _

_The Head of Aurors has been suspended from work until after the hearing. Deputy Head of Aurors Harry Potter will in charge of the department until further notice. _

_When asked yesterday evening by our reporters in Hogsmeade village what his thoughts were upon the events, Mrs. Lupin's husband Professor Lupin refused to comment. _

"_What goes on inside of the Ministry has nothing to do with me." he said. "I was not there at the time and consequently have no right or reason to comment on what has happened." _

_Though admitting that he had spoken with his wife since the incident, the professor failed to elaborate on Mrs. Lupin's own feelings upon the matter. He also refused to answer questions regarding possible links between The Dark Creature's Child and the Atrium Incident. _

_Minister Shacklebolt this morning condemned suggestions that there is any connection whatsoever. _

"_I firmly believe that people are mistaking a simple case of office politics gone wrong with something all together more sinister." he said. "And as such I must say that I do not care for such dark insinuations about the Head of Aurors. She always has, and always will have my complete faith and confidence in regards to this matter. The Lupin family have nothing to do with the Dark Creature's Child." _

"Good old Kingsley!" Victoire declared approvingly as she peered over Teddy's shoulder at the front page of the morning's Daily Prophet.

"That's bloody fantastic!" Chester said through a mouthful of cornflakes, somehow managing to smile at the same time. "She hexed his FOUR TIMES..."

"Shut up, Chester!" Teddy snapped, tossing the paper down onto the table and folding his arms moodily across his chest. "This isn't even slightly funny!"

"I was only trying to look on the bright side!" Chester protested, and Teddy opened his mouth to snap at him again, only to notice that all around the Great Hall students seemed to be turning to look over at the doors.

The Head of Aurors' son grimaced to see that they were staring at his father as he entered the hall and began to make his way up the side of the room beside the Gryffindor table.

Remus did not appear to notice that half of the room was staring at him, or if he did he seemingly didn't care. He paused just behind Teddy's seat, reached over his son's shoulder to point at the newspaper and asked:

"Have you finished reading that?" he asked, and the boy gave a nod.

"Near enough." Teddy muttered, and Remus picked up the paper.

"Great." he said, before turning to continue on up to the teachers' table, and Teddy's eyes widened as he turned to stare after him.

"What is it, Ted?" Chester asked with a frown as Teddy watched Remus take his seat to read, skipping the front page in favour of another.

"I dunno..." Teddy mumbled as he turned back to his breakfast. "It's just...I feel like that's happened before."

"What, your dad nicking your paper?" Chester asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well of course, he does it pretty much every morning..."

"I know." Teddy said impatiently as he chased a stray cornflake around his bowl. "But I mean...it's happened before exactly like that. _Have you finished reading that? Near enough. Great_. Exactly like that!"

"So what?" Chester asked, as Victoire drained her glass of orange juice.

"So...so I think it's important." Teddy said with a deep frown.

"Why?" Chester asked, as he and Victoire exchanged a raised eyebrow.

"I have no idea." Teddy admitted, and Chester looked at him as if he were mad for a long moment before saying:

"Right...anyway, back in the sane world, I left my homework in the common room, so we need to go and get it before Charms."

As they got to their feet and headed back towards Gryffindor Tower, Teddy felt only vaguely embarrassed about his apparent insanity, for he was still trying desperately to remember exactly when he and Remus had exchanged those exact words. For the life of him he could not decide why it was important, but something told him he needed to remember.

He did not remember until some hour before dinner that evening, sat in the common room staring blankly down at the title of his Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. And when he did he felt immediately excited.

"That's it!" he cried, dropping his quill down and splattering little droplets of ink upon the parchment. "It was on the morning of the fire!"

Chester, who was busy avoiding his own homework by staring aimlessly up and the ceiling, and Victoire who had made a good start on a potions essay, both turned to look at him with questioning looks.

"The other time my dad took the newspaper and we said the same thing as this morning!" Teddy explained excitedly, oblivious to Victoire frowning and Chester rolling his eyes. "It was the day we set fire to the common room!"

"Oh right," Chester said, voice dripping with sarcasm as his gaze returned to the ceiling. "Well, I'm so glad you've figured that one out..."

"And," Teddy continued, ignoring his friend entirely, "when Dad asked, I hadn't quite finished reading! I was about to read about a FIRE that had broken out at a wedding!"

Chester immediately stopped staring up at the ceiling, and Victoire set down her own quill and turned in her chair to face the triumphant looking boy.

The eldest Weasley grandchild's eyes shone with excitement as she recited:

"It will start with flames!"

"Exactly!" Teddy cried, positively grinning. "And wizards don't have serious fires all that often, do they? They're easy to put out with magic..."

"Most of them." Chester mumbled, shuddering a little at the memory.

"...I bet that was no ordinary fire! It could be the one Moirai was talking about!"

Victoire jumped to her feet, reaching to snatch up her homework and put it away in her bag.

"Well come on then!" she demanded excitedly, slinging the bag over her shoulder. "Let's go and find out!"

The library at Hogwarts, like many of its muggle counterparts, kept a supply of back dated newspapers. They were kept in a series of large draws set up against the wall beside the entrance to the Restricted Section.

As Teddy and Victoire began to figure out which draw contained the most recent papers, Chester stood watching behind them, eyes coming to rest upon the wall above the cabinets as he waited.

Teddy's inspection of the draw to the far right was disturbed when he heard Chester ask:

"Hey Ted...is that your mum in that photo?"

Teddy looked up at the wall where Chester was pointing and found himself looking at a series of framed photographs. Inside the frame closest to him Teddy found himself looking at two serious looking students stood side by side, both smiling proudly. The small plaque at the frame's bottom identified them as House Dueling Champions Richard Vines of Gryffindor and Felicity Tate of Ravenclaw.

And in the frame to the right were House Dueling Champions Nymphadora Tonks of Hufflepuff… and Artemis Carrow-Smyth of Slytherin.

"No WAY!" Chester exclaimed as he and Victoire came to cluster around the photograph with wide eyes. "That's never Carrow-Smyth! He's not ugly enough..."

"Mr. Burton!" At the sound of Madam Pince's furious voice from somewhere behind them, both Chester and Victoire jumped. But as his friends glanced round to apologize for the noise, Teddy barely noticed. He was too busy staring in shock at the photograph.

The turquoise haired boy leaned forward to squint at the two students in the frame, frowning deeply.

For starters, he thought as seventh year Tonks waved at him, Chester was right, the boy looked nothing like Artemis Carrow Smyth. He was too...well...handsome. He had a neat head of thick blonde hair, matching grey eyes and rather broad, well built shoulders.

He looked the exact opposite of a half starved scare crow with a boiled egg eye.

And unlike Richard Vines and Felicity Tate, who were stood a little apart from one another as if they barely knew one another at all, Tonks and Carrow-Smyth were looking distinctly friendly with one another. The tall Slytherin boy had his arm around the Hufflepuff's shoulders, and they kept glancing at one another and grinning broadly.

"He's rather good looking, isn't he?" Victoire observed a moment later when the librarian had finally stalked back towards her desk.

"It's weird." Chester concluded, eyes widening more than ever as the Slytherin's arm around the pink haired girl dropped downwards, his fingers reaching to prod her in the side, causing her to let out a silent shout of laughter and push him away from her.

Teddy watched the silent playful bickering unfold in equally as silent shock.

"I hope they were just friends." he murmured worriedly, cringing at the realization that Chester's insinuations the previous day could turn out to be true.

"Who knows?" Victoire mused, sounding equally as worried as the bickering subsided and Tonks and Carrow-Smyth resumed their calm smiling. "You can hardly ask, can you? If they were friends or maybe more back then they're certainly nothing of the sort now. Come on, Teddy Bear," she added, returning her attention to the newspapers. "Let's find this Daily Prophet."

Teddy disliked searching for the paper with the eyes of the Dueling Champions upon him the whole time. He couldn't help but keep glancing up at them, lips pursed together as he watched the two friends wave at him. He was not entirely sure why, but he felt somewhat angry at his mother.

_How could you have been friends with somebody like that? Didn't you realise what he was really like?_

And as for the possibility of the two being more than friends...Teddy visibly shuddered. Quite frankly it was beyond his comprehension.


	13. Here We Go Again

_Note: The entire plot of this story has finally been figured out! So with any luck I might even be able to write a half decent story! I have a feeling it might be a long one..._

_A hint about Carrow-Smyth...his time at Hogwarts was a little like somebody else's we know...! Guess the character and get a metaphorical cookie! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**13: Here We Go Again**

"Well..." Teddy mused, quill hovering over a scrap of parchment as he looked down at the little newspaper article, "it doesn't say all that much, does it?"

"It's a start." Victoire reasoned, plucking the quill from his hand and pulling the scrap of parchment towards her. "Read it out again, Ted, and I'll make some notes."

"Guests at a wedding in Kent have today praised the Ministry's response to a fire that broke out in a field where the ceremony's reception was being held. The bright green flames were spotted by a large group of muggle ramblers, and best man...why didn't I notice that the first time?"

Victoire paused in her scribbling of "gree flames" to look up at Teddy questioningly. Before Chester could ask any questions from his spot lounging in the chair opposite them, Teddy continued:

"Best man _Mortimer Smyth_ has said that it was a relief that the incident was dealt with as swiftly as possible!"

"Mortimer Smyth?" Chester straightened in his chair and lent across the table to squint at the paper. "Who's Mortimer Smyth, then? Is he related to Egg-Eye?"

"Maybe..." Teddy murmured as Victoire set about scribbling down the name for further reference. "But it's just Smyth, not Carrow-Smyth."

"Either way," Victoire said as she finished writing and set about putting her notes away in her bag, "we should still try and look at the Werewolf Register...we could look for werewolves living in Kent, where the wedding was. If it was a relations' wedding they might live nearby."

Talk of Mortimer Smyth was very brief indeed, for the trio soon set about discussing their plans for after dinner that evening. Victoire had concluded that, if they were going to use the floo in the Defense office to reach the Ministry, they really ought work out exactly how long the trip was going to take them. That way, she had explained whilst marching out of the library towards the Great Hall for dinner, they could plan suitable distractions to make sure that they did not get caught.

"I suppose it all depends on whether or not we can floo straight to the Ministry, or if we have to go to Ted's house first." Chester had mused some minutes later as they sat down at the Gryffindor table and Teddy made a dive for the mashed potato. "Is the fireplace in your dad's office connected to the whole floo network, Ted? Or does it only go to your house?"

Teddy frowned deeply, whether at the question or at the stubborn resistance of the mashed potato to detach itself from its spoon his friends were unsure. He had only used the fireplace in his father's office to travel on handful of occasions and his destination had always been his own house, and when his mother flooed into the office "from work" he was not entirely sure how literal she was being about her travels. In truth he had never given the fireplace all that much thought...he had never supposed he would ever really need it...

"Your dad used the floo that time to tell your mum about the pensieve." Chester recalled with a frown. "Except he spoke to Harry, so he might not have been flooing your house...unless Harry was at your house...I'm not sure..."

"I'm not sure either." Teddy admitted, giving the spoon a firm shake, narrowly avoiding catapulting potato across the table. "We'll have to check. We can do it tonight once my dad's not around, try and floo somewhere other than my house."

And so it was that after dinner they trooped over to the Defense office and, once assured by the Marauder's Map that the coast was clear, unlocked the door with a simple Alohamora.

"I thought he put proper wards up once he'd gone home each night." Chester said as he followed Teddy and Victoire inside, all three tiptoeing despite themselves.

Teddy didn't bother to reply, he simply hurried over to the fireplace and reached for the floo powder.

"Okay," he whispered as Chester pushed the door shut behind them. "Let's do this quickly in case somebody comes! Vic, you keep an eye on the Map, I'll test the fireplace. Where should I try? We don't want somewhere busy, in case people get suspicious..."

At that precise moment, there came a sudden roaring noise that made all three children jump, and a burst of emerald flame erupted in the fireplace, a figure materialising within the midst...

"Crap!" Chester shrieked as Teddy leapt backwards, colliding painfully with the office desk, knocking a potful of quill pens flying across the room. To Teddy's relief, as whoever it was made to step out of the fireplace, Victoire at least seemed to have recovered from her shock enough to dash forwards and throw her arms around the visitor, crying:

"Auntie Dora! Hi!"

Teddy's eyes focused upon his mother just in time to watch her stumble backwards in surprise, narrowly avoiding cracking the back of her head on the mantle piece.  
"Sweet Merlin...!" The Head of Aurors cursed under her breath as the silvery haired girl's arms enclosed around her, narrowly avoiding knocking the wooden box that she was clutching in both hands. "What on earth are you doing here, Victoire?"

"We're waiting for Uncle Remus!" Victoire explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and Teddy hurriedly hid the pot of floo powder he was holding behind his back.

"You scared the life out of me." Tonks grumbled, though as she reached to dust a spec of soot from her cheek Teddy could see that she looked amused.

"I think you scared the life out of Chester." Victoire announced cheerily, at last releasing the Auror and backing off a few steps. "He screamed like a girl!"

Chester's face contorted in complete revulsion of this simile, but managed to refrain from commenting.

"You'll be lucky to catch your uncle," Tonks said, stepping past Victoire and smiling somewhat vaguely at her son as she set the box she was carrying down upon Remus' desk, "He's got a meeting with the Headmistress this evening, might not be back before lights out."

"Oh..." Victoire gave an innocent shrug. "Well...I guess we'll just come back in the morning, then. We only wanted to...ask him a question, that's all."

"What sort of question?" Tonks asked conversationally as she reached into her pocket and drew out a small envelope, setting it down atop the box. "Anything I can help with?"

Victoire ummmed a little uncertainly before Chester attempted to step in and help.

"Probably not, Mrs. Lupin. I wanted help with my Defense homework."

When Tonks turned to stare at him somewhat disbelievingly, he tried to offer her an innocent smile.

"Right..." Tonks frowned, causing the boy to squirm. "Well...I guess you ought come back in the morning then."

"Okay then!" Victoire agreed cheerfully, making a beeline for the door. "Bye then, Auntie Dora!"

"Bye Mrs. Lupin," Chester mumbled, his face growing increasingly pink at her scrutiny as Victoire grabbed him by the arm and reached to pull the door open. Teddy made to dash after them, only to feel his mother's hand upon his arm.

"Wait a second, love." she said, and so he was forced to watch his friends escape out of the door without him, whispering a little too loudly to one another as they went.

"I can't believe you said that!"

"What? What did I do wrong?"

"No thank you, HEAD OF AURORS, I don't think you're the right person to help me with my DEFENSE homework...idiot, because she won't be suspicious now, will she?"

"So..." Tonks' voice made Teddy start a bit as the door swung shut behind his friends and he turned to face her. "Did you...did you read the paper today?"

"Yeah..." Teddy mumbled, immediately more desperate than ever to escape with his friends. He forced himself to look up at his mother properly, so as not to upset her, not to worry her that he was somehow ashamed or disappointed in her...whether he was or not he was not entirely sure. Ever since discovering the photograph in the library earlier that day he had been struggling to be sure of his feelings and was beginning to conclude that with only half a picture he was never going to be sure at all.

"Right..." Tonks' brow creased rather worriedly as the tried to decide what to say next. She looked tired, Teddy thought, there were hints dark rings under her eyes and she looked a little pale, as if she had morphed away more tell tale signs that were just beginning to seep through the mask.

"I don't want you to...to worry about what the Prophet says about it, Teddy." Tonks said slowly, as if she were being uncharacteristically cautious. "They make it sound bad...not that it wasn't bad, it was, it was terrible and I never should have done it..." Though she had started off focused, by the end of her sentence she was mumbling rather uncertainly. "What I'm trying to say, love, is that I've done a very foolish thing, and chances are things are going to be a bit ugly for the next few weeks or so...but I don't want you to get upset about it, okay? It's...it's only right that I get punished, and it is understandable that people are angry."

"I know, Mum." Teddy mumbled, gaze dropping to the pot of floo powder that he was still holding in one hand.

"Anyway, you better get back to your common room, hadn't you? It'll be getting late soon...I'll take that, shall I?"

Teddy found the pot plucked from his grasp and she pressed a brief kiss to his head. He was sure that she was keen to leave.

"Be good, won't you Teddy?" she said as she hurried over to the floo. "Better than me, at least."

Teddy looked up just in time to watch her scoop up a handful of floo powder and set the pot back down upon the fireplace.

"Mum?"

His question halted her, hand raised ready to throw the powder into the grate.

"Yes, love?"

"Did he deserve it? Carrow-Smyth, I mean?"

Tonks' face fell dismally and she pursed her lips together for a long moment before admitting:  
"I thought so...but no. No, Teddy, he didn't deserve it. Not one bit."

And with that, the Head of Aurors disappeared in a burst of emerald flame.

Teddy had stood in his father's office for a long while, staring at the spot where his mother had just stood.

He had expected her to say yes, Carrow-Smyth had deserved it, or just something rather vague and motherly about hexing never being the answer. He hadn't expected her to sound so regretful, not after the way she had complained about Carrow-Smyth to Remus the day beforehand. A voice in the back of his mind reminded him that he ought leave before Remus happened across him, but he had no desire to go back to Gryffindor Tower after his mother's strange response and so he simply stared aimlessly around the office.

His eyes came to rest upon the box and envelope that Tonks had left upon Remus' desk. He shuffled over to look down at the envelope, and found it addressed to the Headmistress. It had not been sealed properly, the back flap of paper merely tucked into the rest of the envelope and, before he could tell himself not to be nosy, Teddy had reached and pulled it open. He wanted a distraction, he knew he could not quite help himself.

_Minerva,_

_Thank you for agreeing to lend this to me, I think Remus is right, I slept far better once I had things out of my mind. I'm sorry about the drama recently, the fire, the prophecy and Artemis sticking his nose in. Who would have thought he and I would end up like this? Attempting to get loved ones arrested and hexing one another on sight! We thought we'd broken the stereotypes and yet here we are now. We could not have been more wrong, could we? You've been very kind and understanding, thank you so very much. _

_Tonks_

Teddy carefully replaced the letter, heart beginning to thump in anticipation of what he was about to discover as he put the envelope down upon the desk and reached to slide back the little lock upon the wooden box. As he carefully eased the lid open, the hinges gave a soft squeak of protest...

And so it was that once again, Teddy Lupin found himself staring down into the silvery depths of a pensieve.

_Note: Oh look! A note at the bottom of a chapter, how unusual and exciting! I just wanted to say this: No, this will not be a repeat of the plot of Lies and Letters! We shall not spend chapter after chapter after chapter reliving memories! It shall be far more brief! I'm sorry if this isn't very original...but how else is Teddy going to find out? Ask Tonks? Ask Carrow-Smyth? I doubt it! So don't go running for the hills in horror just yet! Stick around for the ride...you might just enjoy it! =) _


	14. Say No

_Note: There will be one more pensieve chapter after this one...I think! See, I told you it wouldn't end up being too horrific! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**14: Say No**

As a familiar courtyard materialised around him, Teddy Lupin knew that at some point in the very near future he was going to be in a lot of trouble. Some time in the very near future, his father was going to walk into his office and discover him with his head bent over a pensieve, having no regard for his mother's privacy whatsoever, and Remus was going to be livid.

But for now, this was only a minor concern, for Teddy was very much disinterested in the future, and far more preoccupied with the past.

It was the same courtyard where, in years to come, Teddy had crouched beside a doorway and spied on Chester and the other third year boys. There was the stone bench set against the wall where he had used to sit in his first year and examine his collection of chocolate frog cards...

And sat upon the bench was a familiar looking girl with long, lightening blue hair, a heart shaped face and dark eyes that were fixed intently upon the book that was balanced upon her knees.

That was until a tall, blonde haired boy crept cautiously up to her side and, before she could notice he was there, lunged forwards to throw his arms around her, sending the book tumbling to the cobbled ground as she let out a small shriek of surprise. Before she could struggle at all, the tip of his wand was jabbing her in the neck and he announced:

"And BAM! You're dead! I win...OUCH!"

Tonks withdrew her foot from it's sudden attack on his shin with smirk as he released her, bending to rub at his leg with his free hand.

"Enjoy it while it lasts, Slytherin!" the Hufflepuff announced as she stooped to retrieve her book. "I'm going to kick your arse next week, you wait."

"You should have seen yourself, Tonks, you'd have jumped to the top of the Astronomy Tower if I hadn't grabbed you! What's wrong? Did the big nasty Slytherin scare you?"

As Artemis Carrow-Smyth dropped down onto the bench beside her, Tonks stuck her tongue out at him.

"So," she said as she finally cracked a smile and went back to examining her book, searching for her lost page. "Does your sister know you're talking to me? What's she going to say when she finds out you're consorting with the Enemy?"

"I don't think she'll be that worried." the boy said, stretching his legs out before him and peering down at the book on her lap. "After all, it's not like you're a Gryffindor is it? You're just a poncy little Hufflepuff."

Tonks closed the book with a snap when she noticed he was looking, shooting him a mock glare.

"Worried I'm going to figure out your Big Plan, are you?" he asked with a smirk, and she mirrored his expression as she said:

"I don't need a Big Plan to beat you, Art. You're not good enough to warrant that amount of planning."

Artemis gave a snort of disbelief, but did not disagree with her. Instead, he turned to stare across the courtyard for a long moment before he said:

"I want to ask you a question."

"Shoot."

He turned to fix her with a deadly serious expression that seemed to startle her slightly.

"You know we're just joking, don't you? About...about enemies and nasty Slytherins and poncy Hufflepuffs...?"

"Well of course I do! What, you think I'd be serious, Art? Merlin, you can be dim, can't you? My mum's a Slytherin, you know..."

"I know, I know. But...but you know it's all just a joke?"

"Yes!" Tonks' hands slapped down upon the leather bound book, eyes wide in emphasis. "You're not going all silly and soft on me, are you? Because to be honest I'm not sure I can cope with that. A Slytherin is one thing...even a dim Slytherin, I can handle, but..."

"Oh shut up!" Artemis snapped, folding his arms firmly across his chest and scowling. "You don't take anything seriously, do you? You think everything in life is just one big joke! Well it isn't, Tonks! Some things aren't funny at all...they're...they're serious!"

"Houses aren't serious, Art. We can joke about them as much as we like, it doesn't matter what House a person is in, there's more to people than some group they got put in at school. So we get sorted into the House that supposedly suits us best...so what? There's more to Gryffindors than bravery and there's more to Ravenclaws than abnormally sized brains. A Hufflepuff and Slytherin are mates! Shocking! Now get over it!"

There was a long silence as Artemis simply stared at her, a little dazed at her outburst, before he half whispered:

"You're amazing."

"I know I am." Tonks said, apparently unaware of the slightly far away expression upon his face.

"I'm being serious."

"Yes, so you keep on saying. Are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow? We could go together, if you like. You can buy me a butterbeer, in anticipation of me being crowned School Dueling Champion next week."

Artemis gave himself a slight shake, as if to drag his mind back from wherever it had been wandering off to, and he asked:

"Are you really sure you can win?"

Tonks paused in her examination of a loose thread on her robes to frown at him.

"Are you still being serious?" she inquired, and when Artemis replied, Teddy rather feared he was about to be hexed for his mumbled:

"Maybe..."

Tonks' expression was utterly withering.

"Why shouldn't I be able to win?" she challenged, and the Slytherin seemed unaware of how offensive he was being when he gave a shrug and mumbled:

"Well...you know...girls aren't really made fot dueling, are they? It's...more of a boy thing...they're more aggressive and stuff..."

"That's a load of crap, and you know it!" Tonks said, rising abruptly to her feet, hugging the book to her chest. "And we're not having this conversation again, we're just not going to because then I might remember what a complete and utter prat you can be, and that would be pretty rubbish after I just said we were mates, wouldn't it?"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." the boy mumbled hurriedly, leaping to his feet after her as she began to stalk off towards the corridor entrance. "We'll just...just forget I said it, yeah? I'll buy you a butterbeer, like you said. I'll buy you two, if you're lucky..."

And the next thing Teddy knew, he found himself in a corner of the school library, the two friends sat before him, Artemis pursing his lips together in mock annoyance as Tonks dangled a shiny gold medal upon a ribbon in front of his face, her face aglow with triumph.

"I told you so, didn't I?"

"Yeah...you did." The Slytherin reached to pluck the medal from her grasp to look at it more closely. "You did great, Tonks."

Satisfied at this assessment of her dueling escapades, Tonks tucked one hand under her chin, elbow upon the table as she asked:

"So...how're things with you and Millie?"

Artemis' mild interest in the medal was disturbed as his face contorted miserably.

"Worse," he muttered, shaking his head despairingly. "Much worse...in fact...in fact I'm not sure there even is a me and Millie anymore."

"That sucks." Tonks told him, eying the tabletop with a sigh. "She wasn't bad, for a Slytherin, I mean. Still, no worries, eh? You can do better than her, anyway."

"You think?" he asked dully, and she reached to pat him comfortingly upon the shoulder.

"Sure, Art! I bet you could ask any girl in this whole entire school out and she'd say yes."

Teddy felt oddly disturbed by the far away look that seemed to descend upon Artemis as he watched Tonks examine the tabletop absentmindedly. It was not for a long moment that the Slytherin mumbled:

"Thanks." He paused to watch the girl brush a strand of pink hair behind her ear before announcing: "You're a decent friend, you know? You're my best friend."

Tonks offered him a bright smile, reaching to retrieve her medal and storing it safely away in the pocket of her robes.

"We make a funny pair, don't we? The school heart throb and the girl who has weird hair and wears odd socks..."

"That's daft..."

"I know! They aren't THAT odd socks...I mean they're different colours, but they have the same stripes on them..."

"I mean about me. I'm not the school heart throb, Tonks, that's a ridiculous suggestion."

"Why? It's true! Like I said, you pick any girl in the school..."

"I don't want just any girl in the school."

"School, country, world, whatever. You can have her. Trust me, I know."

"You do?"

"Yep."

"I don't think you do. You can't possibly know that."

"Why not?"

"Because you're crap at Divination."

Tonks clamped one hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle, but Artemis wasn't laughing.

"How long have we been friends now?" he wondered aloud, and since Tonks was too busy giggling to answer, he decided: "It's been like...four...five years. That's a pretty long time."

When Tonks only nodded rather disinterested agreement, he said:

"Do you think we'll always be friends?"

"Sure we will." Tonks agreed, having finally stifled her amusement, and when Artemis' face fell somewhat she offered him a bemused look. "What? Would you rather leave Hogwarts and never speak to me ever again?"

"No...no, of course not."

Tonks' confusion did not seem to cease, and yet Artemis stayed quiet for a very long moment before shifting in his chair until he was sat closer to her, their knees touching under the table.

"I'm not sure...that I want us to be...friends." he mumbled rather uncertainly, reaching to scratch the back of his neck rather awkwardly. "I mean...just friends..."

Tonks pursed her lips firmly together, brow creasing in concentration as she scrutinized his face searchingly. When she failed to make her own mind up she was forced to ask:

"Are you joking?" At the sight of his face crumpling despairingly she hurriedly decided: "You're not joking, you're being serious...very serious...bloody hell..."

"Are you pissed with me?"

"No...I mean...I don't know."

"Please don't be mad...I don't want you to...to be mad..."

"I'm not! I'm not, I just...well...to be honest, Art, it's not every day your best mate randomly tells you he's...you know."

"In love with you?"

"Well...yeah...exactly."

They fell silent, staring at one another with wide, rather startled eyes until she finally drew a deep breath and, hands twisting awkwardly in her lap, asked:

"How long have you...wanted to say that to me?"

"Ages..." the boy gave a rather nervous chuckle. "Since like...fourth year...something like...like that."

"You've had like a million girlfriends, though. That doesn't make any sense..."

"Yeah...well...I was trying to make you jealous...obviously..."

The Hufflepuff buried her face in her hands with a huge sigh as the boy sat before her went the deepest shade of crimson Teddy had ever seen.

"This isn't really happening..." she complained, fingertips pulling at strands of pink hair in confused agitation. "It's just...not right."

"It's not?"

"No it's not."

"Oh...well...well maybe I should...you know..." As he made to stand up, her hands snapped away from her face and she reached to grab hold of him firmly by the arm.

"No! Don't go...I didn't mean it like that...sort of...I just...well you know me, Art, I don't really do the whole dating your best mate thing. I reckon it might ruin everything..."

"Yeah well...well if it does...if it does you've still got Charlie Weasley haven't you? You like him better than me anyway..."

"That isn't true."

"Sure it is! And that's okay, because that means he's your best mate and not me, so...so we could...could try...you know..." When Tonks simply stared at him rather disbelievingly he squirmed in his chair and tried: "It won't be that different to how we are now anyway! I mean...it just means...I don't know...I can hold your hand in the corridor and umm...stuff like that."

"Stuff like that?" The future Head of Aurors managed to frown and snigger simultaneously. "What are you, six or something?" She burst into laughter again and, to Teddy's dismay, threw her arms around the boy, burying her face in his shoulder in at attempt to stifle the sound.

"Stop laughing." the boy muttered as he consented to hugging her back. "You'll get us kicked out."

"I'm sorry, it's just...it's just after however many million girlfriends you'd think you could ask a girl out without being so bloody awkward about it."

"You aren't really the same as the others. Do you think you could say yes yet? Or...no I suppose."

The laughter died on Tonks' face and as she drew away from him again her expression was deadly serious and thoughtful.

"Go on," he said, smiling encouragingly. "Say yes!"

_Say no_! Teddy silently demanded, heart hammering in his chest. _Say no, say no_!

And when the reply left her lips, Teddy felt as if he had been punched in the chest.

"Yes." she said.


	15. Aurors and Office Workers

_Note: Written in anticipation of my lack of time to write tomorrow! I shall save it and update when I get back from registration, that way you won't go a whole day without another chapter! I hope the time line makes sense..._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**15: Aurors and Office Workers**

They were sat under the little apple tree in Teddy's grandmother's back garden, she squinting into a little compact mirror at herself rather thoughtfully, he watching her do so, lips pressed into a thin line as brown locks brightened to red.

"Make it black." he suggested, in a tone that Teddy thought wasn't very suggesting at all.

"Black's boring." Tonks grumbled, trying a rather alarming shade of orange that made her boyfriend scowl.

"I _like_ black." Artemis informed her, turning away at her frowning at him. "Besides, that orange looks stupid."

Teddy waited for Tonks to tell him where to jump, but to his surprise she merely sighed and looked back at the mirror. A moment later, her hair was a sleek, shiny black.

Seemingly oblivious to her disappointment, Artemis got to his feet and turned to offer his girlfriend a hand.

"C'mon," he grinned, pulling her up onto her feet, catching her around the middle in a firm hug. "Let's go get some lunch!" He leant to press a kiss to her forehead, mumbling: "Beautiful!"

She finally cracked a smile and allowed him to lead her by the hand towards the back door. Teddy trailed after them as they began to talk about a upcoming party at somebody called Micky's house.

Once in the kitchen, Tonks made a beeline for the fridge as Artemis came to a halt beside the table, looking down at a small stack of papers that had been left there. As Tonks began to examine the various sandwich fillers upon the top shelf, the Slytherin asked:

"What's this?"

"I'm applying to join the Aurors!" Tonks announced excitedly, and Teddy gritted his teeth when her boyfriend sniggered.

"You're not honestly still going on about that, are you?" the blonde haired boy asked as he squinted accusingly down at the application forms.

"Well obviously I am." Tonks said as she extracted a few items from the fridge and dumped them down upon the nearest countertop. "I haven't filled those forms out for fun, you know."

Artemis' face contorted in disapproval.

"You...you do realise what Aurors do, don't you Tonks?"

Tonks did not dignify this question with an answer, so instead he asked:

"I mean...you know what the life expectancy of an Auror is, don't you?"

"Just because you don't have the balls to do it yourself." Tonks smirked as she headed to fetch the bread from the bread bin.

"Just because I'm not stupid enough to do it myself." Artemis corrected, and she stopped dead in her tracks at his words. "Only idiots apply to join the Aurors, either that or people who are suicidal!"

"Oh right. And what are you planning to do with your life, Art?" Tonks asked as she rounded on him, dark eyes wide with fury. "What are you going to do now we're out of school?"

"I dunno..."

"Exactly! At least I'm doing something, instead of sitting around on my backside all day waiting for Mummy and Daddy to give me some pocket money. Besides, I know it's dangerous, I'll be careful! I've wanted to do it for as long as I can remember..."

"Yeah, well...go for it then. They won't take you anyways."

Teddy thought Tonks looked as if he had just slapped her around the face, yet Artemis seemed again oblivious of her hurt as he shot her a grin and said: "Never mind though, eh? You could apply to Magical Law Enforcement instead if you want. They've got loads of office jobs going, Dad says. I might apply myself, actually, they've got nice offices, Magical Law Enforcement. Not like those cupboards they give to the Magical Creatures lot. Hey, if we both get in we can go to lunch together! That would be cool, wouldn't it? What...?" Tonks' gaping had barely dawned on him when Andromeda's voice sounded from the room next door, calling her daughter's hated name, and the young witch stomped off towards the door, Teddy hurrying after her.

"Dad and I are going over to visit your Grandmother tonight." A much younger Andromeda Tonks announced as her daughter came to a halt just inside the doorway. "Do you want to come with us?"

Tonks gave a shrug that her mother seemed to find vaguely irritating before asking:

"Do you think they'll accept me into the Auror programme, Mum?"

Andromeda offered her daughter an encouraging smile.

"I don't see any reason why not, dear."

Tonks frowned rather worriedly as she admitted:

"Artemis says they won't. You know...because of...of things."

Andromeda gave a huff of irritation.

"You may well be the niece of Death Eaters, dear, but any moron can see that we have absolutely nothing to do with them!" she announced rather passionately. "And if you want to be an Auror you have just as much a right to try as everybody else! Besides, half the population of Wizarding Britain is related to somebody they'd rather forget. Artemis is just the same!"

Bolstered by her mother's encouragement, Tonks turned on her heel and marched back into the kitchen, ready to relay her mother's words to the unbeliever...

Only to find him stooped over the papers upon the table, wand tip pressed to the parchment.

"What are you DOING?" Tonks shrieked, and Teddy heard hurried movement in the other room as Andromeda abandoned her chair to see what her daughter was shouting about.

Artemis hurriedly shoved his wand back into his pocket, swallowing hard as he plastered an innocent expression onto his face.

"You made a spelling mistake." he explained, attempting to smile. "I was just correcting it, don't want to send it off with a mistake on it..."

"You're a bloody liar, Artemis!" Tonks cried as she stormed over and snatched the papers out of his reach. "You're trying to ruin it! Because for some stupid reason you don't want me to apply..."

As the equally as unimpressed figure of Andromeda Tonks appeared behind his girlfriend, Artemis hurriedly shook his head.

"It's not like that! Really, it's not..."

"You always do this!" Tonks complained, backing off a few steps as if she was worried he was going to make a grab for her precious papers. "I used to think you were joking! We used to laugh about things, silly little Hufflepuffs with unrealistic dreams and pompous, arrogant Slytherins! We used to have a laugh about it! But I never thought you were being serious! Except these days you're always serious! You say things like you mean them and it's HORRIBLE! You're HORRIBLE, Artemis!"

Artemis' gaze dropped to the floor, but he dared not say a word.

"I...I tell you I want to make a difference to the world and you tell me I'm STUPID! You even tell me I LOOK stupid if I don't wear my hair how you like it! It's pathetic and it's bloody nasty! Why can't I be an Auror if I want to? Because you're too lazy and unambitious to do anything worth while with your own life? Because then I'd be better than you and you can't have a girlfriend like that, can you?"

"I'd worry about you." Artemis protested feebly, but she simply cried:

"RUBBISH! You probably don't even care if I go and get myself killed or not!" she shot her mother an apologetic look when Andromeda flinched a little. "You've been planning this for ages, haven't you? You figured you liked me because I make you laugh and you can persuade me to look however which way you like! And then you thought you'd be a manipulative little bastard and ruin everything I've worked for just so you can have a girlfriend who does what you want, makes you look good!"

"That's ridiculous..."

"You're ridiculous! You're ridiculous enough to think I'd fall for it! Well I'm not, Artemis, I'm smarter than that! And you know what? I was wrong, sometimes Houses DO matter! Because you're a Slytherin and not much else! You're just manipulative and controlling and utterly SELFISH!"

Andromeda cleared her throat rather loudly in protest at this attack upon her House, but Tonks ignored her.

"One of these days," she said, chin jutting out defiantly as her hair went from black to the brightest shade of pink that Teddy had ever seen. "You're going to be stuck in your crappy little office writing dull paperwork, and I'm going to be sat in some big fancy office across the corridor, wearing scarlet with black trim. And whilst your desk is going to just be covered with mounds of pointless papers mine is going to have a shiny sign on in that says Head Of Auror Department. And then we're going to see who is the stupid one, aren't we?"

"And I'm going to be dead proud of you." the Slytherin whispered, his shoulders hunching miserably. Teddy wondered if he was about to start crying.

"If we were mates, maybe." Tonks said, hugging the application forms to her chest defensively. "But not as we are now. I knew it was a bad idea, I knew I never should have said yes to you..." she trailed off with a sniff, reaching to dab furiously at her eyes with the sleeve of her multi-coloured cardigan.

Artemis finally looked up at her, his own eyes distinctly watery.

"Please don't start crying..." he begged, taking a small step towards her, only for a stern voice to announce:

"I think you should leave now."

Teddy had to admit that, if he himself was faced with the aristocratic fury that had flourished upon his grandmother's face, he would not have needed her to say a single word. He would have fled on the spot.

Artemis Carrow-Smyth seemed to think something similar, because he shot Tonks one last dismayed glance before turning and hurrying for the front door.

And then Teddy found himself stood in the bustling Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, following a familiar figure dressed in scarlet Auror robes through the crowds towards a bench set against one wall. A blonde haired man was slumped upon the bench, staring down at the highly polished floor. As Teddy wondered what year it was, Artemis Carrow-Smyth looked up at the woman who had come to a halt before him. Teddy gave a shudder at the sight of a more familiar, milky white eye.

"Wotcher, Artemis..." Tonks greeted, lips pursed together apprehensively. "I...I heard about what happened...the other day..."

The man's mismatched gaze dropped back to the floor, his shoulders slumping.

"I know we don't really talk anymore...it's been forever...but I just wanted to say that I'm really, really sorry." Tonks explained, raising her hand a little as if attempting to decide whether or not to pat him comfortingly upon the arm. "It was a tragic accident and..."

"They've been pulling a load of files out of the Registry recently." Artemis said suddenly, looking up at her again somewhat accusingly. "You aren't supposed to know about it, but Umbridge has a bee in her bonnet about one of the werewolves."

"Oh?" Tonks said, expression one of only mild interest, and Teddy flinched when Artemis said:

"Yeah. You've heard of Remus Lupin, haven't you?"

"Nope, never."

"Well that's real funny, Tonks, because Umbridge seems to be under the impression that you've married him."

Teddy's heart sunk sickeningly when Tonks' face visibly fell.

"She's bloody right, isn't she?" Artemis whispered despairingly. "Look at your face! She's bloody right, she just can't prove it yet...for the love of Merlin, Dora, a bloody WEREWOLF..."

"Shut up, Art." Tonks muttered as she reached to grab her ex-boyfriend by the arm and pull him somewhat roughly to his feet. "I know what's happened has been really terrible and you must feel awful..."

"You aren't even denying it! Sweet Merlin..."

"...But I really think you need to come with me and we can sit and have a chat about this..."

As the Auror continued to babble about nothing in particular, half running for the nearest door and dragging the Slytherin behind her, Teddy ran after them and was shocked when he squeezed through the door to find himself in...

A maintenance cupboard...?

The door swung quietly shut behind them and suddenly wandlight flooded the darkness...

And there stood Tonks, the tip of her lit wand pointing directly at Artemis' face.

"What are you doing?" the man whimpered, and Tonks looked somewhat regretful as she told him:

"I'm going to have to wipe your memory, Art."

"But...what...?"

"You've got a big mouth, and I don't want you to go babbling to Umbridge that you've asked me about Remus and decided that I look guilty."

"Then it's...it's true? You've married a bloody werewolf?"

"Yes. I've married a bloody werewolf. Merlin, you haven't changed very much, have you?"

Artemis' eyes widened in apparent horror as the Auror gripped hold of her wand resolutely.

"Dora..." he whispered, one hand reaching to rest upon her arm. "Listen to me very carefully. You have to leave him, get away..."

"I know you're upset about the accident, Art, but you don't have to start babbling rubbish at me like this. Besides, we're not even friends anymore, you don't even like me..."

"I do like you!" Artemis whined, teeth gritted in frustration. "I do like you! I...I LOVE you..."

"Shut up, Art." Tonks said impatiently, wand jabbing him threateningly in the throat. "I don't have time for any of that rubbish. I'm married to Remus, and I'm not going to leave him."

"You have to! You MUST!"  
"I don't have to do anything, Art. You don't know what you're talking about, and even if you're right, which you're definitely not, it's a bit late now isn't it? We're married..."

"So? You can get a divorce!"

"No I can't, Art. It's too late for that, too. Anyway, it doesn't even matter what you think..."

"What do you mean it's too late to get divorced?"

Tonks sighed irritably, which seemingly gave Artemis just long enough to think the statement over and jump to a suitably traumatic conclusion.

"Oh no...no, no, no..."

"For the love of Merlin, Art, can't you just shut up?"  
"YOU'RE BLOODY PREGNANT, AREN'T YOU? YOU'VE GONE AND GOT YOURSELF BLOODY KNOCKED UP..."

"Shut UP!" Tonks demanded, shoving him backwards a step, adjusting her grip upon her wand threateningly. "Somebody's going to hear you..."

And at that precise moment, the door to the cupboard was pulled open and the whole scene was flooded from light outside, a face peering searchingly into the gloom...

And to Teddy's further shock, his mother flung her arms around Artemis Carrow-Smyth, they both stumbled back into a wall, narrowly avoiding tripping over a poorly placed bucket...

And she _kissed_ him.

Teddy's MOTHER was KISSING Artemis Carrow-Smyth!

Teddy felt as though he was about to be sick. He was pretty sure that this could not have been the incident that Remus had mentioned knowing about back in the Defense Office the previous evening. He wondered if his father knew about this too, or if not what would he have to say about it?

"What sort of behavior is this?" the wizard in the doorway cried in disapproval as Tonks leapt backwards, pretending to look startled. "I should report you to Madam Umbridge!"

"You're right," the Auror agreed with a distinctly triumphant grin. "You probably should!"

And as the door swung shut again behind the furious wizard, and Artemis opened his mouth to say something, Tonks turned her attention back to the blonde haired man and, in one swift movement, raised her wand to point directly at his face and declared:

"_Obliviate_!"

There was a blinding flash of light and Teddy screwed his eyes shut, hands reaching to cover them for good measure. When he finally dared open them again he found Tonks standing innocently smiling at a bewildered looking Artemis,, who looked both alarmed and somewhat delighted at the same time.

"What are we...I mean why are we...?" the Slytherin gestured around them somewhat gingerly and the Auror offered him a distinctly mischievous grin.

"Think your mind wandered off for a second there." she observed, discreetly shoving her wand back into the pocket of her robes. "That good, am I?"

The wizard simply stared dimly at her, mind desperately scrambling to make some sort of sense of the situation.

"Did you...did we just..."

"Kiss? Yeah, something like that. I have to get back to work, see you around, Art!"

Tonks made a hurried exit and as Artemis stumbled out of the cupboard after her, Teddy struggled to keep up with her long strides across the Atrium.

Grinning broadly, Tonks made her way towards the elevator, only to collide with somebody who was stood stock still just outside of the doors.

"Oops! Sorry..."

"Tonks?"

"Kingsley!"

The future Minister for Magic was stood, arms crossed firmly across his chest as he looked down at his fellow Order member with a deeply concerned look on his face.

"What's going on?" Tonks asked him as she disentangled herself from him, having resorted to throwing her arms around him to stop herself taking a tumble. "You look like you've just seen a Dementer or something."

"I was about to ask you the same question." Kingsley murmured, eyebrow raised as he glanced over her shoulder.

Tonks looked back to spot Artemis making a rather dazed approach to one of the countless fireplaces to one side of the room.

"Oh...you saw that, did you?" she mumbled, cheeks reddening a little as she hastily turned back to her friend.

"I'm not entirely sure what I saw, truth be told." Kingsley admitted, and she gave a rather uncertain chuckle before explained:

"Well I'm not that sure either, but I think I might have just started an affair with our friend Artemis over there."

"Ah..." Kingsley watched in bemusement as Artemis disappeared in a burst of emerald fire. "I see..." He stared at the fireplace for a very long moment, watching an elderly witch in the distinctive robes of the Wizengamot appear and step out into the vast room, brushing soot from her arms. "Actually, Tonks." he admitted at last. "I don't think I do see...at all."

"Well...I may have attempted to lure him into the cupboard so that I could Obliviate him..."

"Oh."

"Since he was going to snitch on me to The Toad."

"Ah."

"Except somebody walked in on us...so I just...you know..."

"I see."

"And actually I think it's turned out rather nicely. Umbridge isn't going to figure out what I've been up to if she thinks I'm too busy jumping fellow Ministry employees and dragging them into secluded broom cupboards, is she?"

"I imagine not."

"That's got to be worth at least another week before she finds out for sure about Remus and I. That's another week the Order's got me inside the Ministry."

"True."

"I reckon Remus'll be fine with it. You know, let the marriage take one for the team and so on."

"Maybe."

There was a long pause as Tonks frowned rather guiltily down at her boots.

"Don't tell him, Kingsley." she begged at last, shooting the tall wizard a warning look. "I don't think I could stand it. Not right now, anyway."

"I'm sure he would understand." Kingsley reasoned calmly, but she shook her head vigorously.

"Yes but that's the problem, isn't it? Remus is much too understanding for his own good! He'd just say _oh well never mind love_, and give me a hug! And then he'd sit awake all night and torture himself about it!"

Kingsley heaved a sigh, only for a voice from somewhere behind Teddy to call his name and he made to walk over to the speaker. Tonks reached to grab a fistful of his robes in her hand, eyes pleading, and he carefully pulled her hand free from the material and assured her:

"My lips are sealed."

"Thank you!"

"Now for the love of Merlin stop mucking around and go and get some actual work done. If you don't our beloved Madam Undersecretary will probably sack you for laziness anyway."

"Whatever you say, boss..."

Once again one scene shifted into another and Teddy found that he was standing before a desk in a long, narrow room, what appeared to be a small library of paper folders further inside. Artemis was sat behind the desk, his transformation to scare crow seemingly complete as he stared coldly towards the door.

"Well, well, well," he called as Teddy turned to watch Tonks approach the desk, a single piece of parchment held in one hand. "Look at you!"

"I need to pull a file." Tonks announced as if she had not heard him. "Mitchell Sanders." She slapped the parchment down upon the desk before him, and it was then that Teddy noticed that the sleeves of her scarlet Auror robes were trimmed with black.

Artemis leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest as he gazed up at her.

"Well?" he said when she simply stared at him expectantly. "Here we are, Dora, lowly office worker and Head of Auror Department! Aren't you going to point out who's the stupid one?"

"Just get the file." Tonks instructed impatiently.

"Aw, go on! You've been waiting for this for years! Don't ruin the whole experience for yourself now..."

"If you don't want to get off your lazy arse and get it, I can do it myself."

"No, no, no," the Slytherin tutted, waggling an infuriating finger at the Auror with a smirk. "Don't try and get all high and mighty with me yet! You think this makes you better than me now, don't you? Well I'll tell you this, Sweetheart, you're wrong! If you don't want to answer, I'll do it for you: You're the stupid one. You may well manage to screw up my day by complaining to the Minister that I don't do my job properly, but I can go one better than that. Oh yes, Dora, you can ruin my day but I, I can ruin your marriage!"

Tonks stepped around the desk and stalked purposefully towards one of the shelves.

"Hate to ruin this for you," she announced as she set about pulling out files to examine, "but I'm pretty sure my marriage is quite that fragile. I suggest you give up on trying to blackmail me over some random kiss you don't even remember properly that happened years ago, its getting boring and to be honest it's been a long day and I'm not sure I'm up to tolerating your crap." Pulling one file from the shelf and tucking it under her arm she moved to another shelf and, after a mere glance, rounded on Artemis with an accusing look. "Where's Remus' file?" she demanded, and the Slytherin smirked at her again.

"I'm not sure."

"Really? You do realise that loss of Restricted Documentation is a sackable offense, don't you?"

"Maybe somebody's looking at it. Been misbehaving, has he?"

Tonks stalked back around the desk and rounded on the man with an expression of complete disgust.

"You have until eight o'clock tomorrow morning to have that file on my desk, or I swear you're going to wish you'd never encouraged me to attend private dueling lessons."

He gave an infuriating shrug.

"You haven't filed an official request." he informed her, reaching to point triumphantly at the form before him. "This is only for the Sanders dog."

Tonks leaned forward across the desk, positively glowering.

"You are a very, very sad man." she hissed, grip upon the file she held tightening until the folder began to pucker and crease. "You're sad and bitter, Art, and it doesn't suit you. Just because your life hasn't turned out the way you wanted it to, doesn't mean you have to try and ruin it for everybody else. You may be shocked to hear that you are not the only person in the world to have a tough time! I don't know if you remember, but there was this terrible thing called a War a few years back. We've all suffered tragedies. We've all picker ourselves up and moved on. So give it up!" She straightened up, tucking the file back under her arm and straightening her robes. "And I know it's you screwing with Remus' file. I'm going to give you one chance to hand it to me tomorrow, as it was before you started messing us around, or I'm going to report you."

This threat did seem to have an effect on Artemis' face at last for as she turned and swept off towards the door his face fell.

"I didn't have a choice, Dora." he called, and she paused inside the doorway to look back at him questioningly. "You don't listen to me, I don't know why, surely you can see? Surely, surely you can understand...you've got a son to think of, too...I know what's going to happen to him, to you, I can't stand the thought of it, Dora...if you don't listen to me...well I've got no choice..."

"You're wasting your time. I'm not going to listen to you, and there is nothing you can pin on Remus anyway..."

"I can wait."

Tonks stared at him in silent outrage at his determination, before she finally concluded:

"You're a twisted little bas..."

"If you would listen to me I wouldn't have to get him into trouble!"

"You're talking rubbish..."

"He's going to hurt you! Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it WILL happen! It will!"

"I've been married for three whole years and nothing..."

"And that boy! Your little boy! That sweet little child you've got a photo of on your desk! You know what'll happen? He'll be torn to shreds before your very eyes, and you can beg and scream all you like, it won't listen! It won't listen!"

Tonks turned her back on the room and began to hurry off down the corridor, the scraggly looking man shouting somewhat madly after her.

"It's an animal! A DARK CREATURE...you'll end up DEAD! Just like Arissa! Just like her!"

And at that moment, the scene dissolved and Teddy found himself in his father's office, stumbling back a few steps as he withdrew his face from the swirling mass of silvery memories. For a brief moment he looked around the empty office worriedly, as if expecting to find Remus waiting for him, a furious expression upon his face, but he soon felt relieved to find that he was still very much alone. He hurriedly replaced the lid upon the box, put the letter to the Headmistress on top, and made a hurried escape back to Gryffindor Tower.

_Note: I'm getting to like these end of chapter notes! In case anybody is wondering about the timescale of the middle memory, it occurs around a week before the memory shown in **Lies and Letters**' chapter **Get Rid of It**. At this point Tonks has not told anybody (except Artemis!) about the baby, telling Remus took a long time! And her prediction that she could buy herself an extra week before leaving the Ministry was rather optimistic – she was forced to leave mere days later, hence her comment to Remus in Lies and Letters that it was now too dangerous for them to go to the hospital, and her waiting around for him at home rather than being at work. This is within the first month of their marriage, prior to Bill and Fleur's Wedding (probably...if I'm wrong just pretend otherwise! I suck at figuring out how this all fits together properly!) =) The last memory was a few years after the War, when Teddy was around 2 and a half years old, Tonks having just been promoted! So...Carrow-Smyth has been looking for an opportunity like the prophecy for quite a long time! _


	16. Who Likes Chocoballs?

_Note: Warning: This chapter contains poor attempts at humour! Because I like chocolate. And because I felt like being funny...or at least vaguely amusing!_

_This chapter is very much linked to **Without a Trace**.** For those of you who have not read it and want to read it**...go and read it before you read this! **For those of you who can't be bothered**, simply know this: Remus was poisoned and kidnapped by relatives of the Death Eater Rowle, which has left his lungs in a less than healthy state. _

_Thank you to those of you who have reviewed, you are very kind. =) _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit form this piece of writing._

**16: Who Likes Chocoballs? **

"It's a good thing you're so nosey, Teddy Bear." Victoire announced the following morning as she drowned her cornflakes in milk. "There's no way we can risk using the fireplace to get to the Ministry now Auntie Dora's seen us. If you hadn't gone and stuck your head in that pensieve we'd be completely out of leads."

"It's not much of a lead." Chester grumbled as he hastily scribbled another line of his Defense homework. "All we really know is that Carrow-Smyth is a really nasty bit of work."

"I feel sorry for him." Victoire announced, and Chester promptly choked on the toast he was halfway through swallowing.

"Are you mental or something?" he cried as Teddy reached to thump him rather unhelpfully upon the back. "He's the most selfish, manipulative bastard I've ever heard of!"

Victoire shrugged, seemingly unaware of how utterly shocked the muggle born was.

"I know, but to be fair to him, Auntie Dora's not been a saint either..."

"She and the rest of the girls on the planet."

"...that was a pretty nasty trick she pulled on him in the Atrium cupboard..."

"That was for the good of the Order!" Teddy protested passionately, scowling when the girl merely shrugged again.

"True, but that doesn't mean it wasn't nasty. The poor man's in love with her, Ted, even now..."

"They hate each other." Chester insisted. "They must do, did you hear what Ted said? How rude he was..."

"Boys are often rude to girls they like." Victoire said, and Teddy glanced somewhat meaningfully at Chester, causing him to redden. "And he DOES love her, that's why he's willing to risk his job in order to get Uncle Remus locked up, why he kept saying those horrible things about werewolves to Auntie Dora. He's trying to protect her, because he loves her."

"He's even more mental than you are." Chester scoffed, gaze returning to his half written essay.

"Nobody ever said you have to be a nice person to fall in love, Ches." Victoire reasoned, causing Teddy to shudder. "Just because he's selfish, doesn't make him another Voldemort."

Teddy looked down at Chester's frantic scribbling and, keen to change the subject, told his best friend:

"You're never going to finish in time. Defense starts in ten minutes or so."

"Shut up." Chester muttered, scowling at the essay accusingly. "With any luck it'll start late, your dad hasn't shown up for breakfast yet."

Teddy and Victoire looked over at the teachers' table searchingly and, true to Chester's word, they found that Remus was nowhere to be seen.

"You don't think something's happened, do you?" Teddy mumbled worriedly as Chester turned over his parchment and set about writing on the fresh side.

"Since last night?" Victoire tapped her spoon against the edge of her bowl thoughtfully. "I doubt it..."

"I dunno," Chester muttered as he ruthlessly scribbled out a spelling mistake with a furious scowl. "If they're going to arrest him for assault I don't see why they wouldn't do it in the middle of the night..."

"Oh shut up, Chester!" Victoire snapped when Teddy's face fell at the very thought. "I'm sure he's just overslept or something. That's not too hard to believe is it? You do it all the time."

Chester opened his mouth to retort, only for Teddy's voice to cut him of.

"Mum...?"

His friends both turned to follow his gaze towards the double doors, and sure enough, they spotted Teddy's mother striding into the hall and up towards the high table. At the sudden appearance of the Head of Aurors in their midst, talk up and down the house tables died down as the students of Hogwarts stared at the unexpected visitor.

"Do you think that's a bad sign?" Teddy wondered as Tonks came to a halt before the Headmistress and the two exchanged some sort of greeting. McGonnogal rose from her chair and the two witches both headed for the double doors again.

"Well come on then!" Victoire demanded, getting to her feet and, motioning for the boys to follow her.

Eavesdropping was seemingly an impossible task, for McGonnogal and Tonks were stood just outside of the hall's doors, and Teddy caught only the briefest of words before he was forced to walk in on the conversation, countless eyes of those back in the hall upon his back.

"It's just for a few days, Minerva..."

"Yes, yes, I know that, but really Tonks, there have been enough disruptions this year as it is. Not purposefully of course, but very disruptive all the same...Mr. Lupin, Miss Weasley!"

Teddy vaguely wondered where Chester was, but supposed he was still busy stuffing his essay away in his bag. As he and Victoire came to a halt, the two adults turning to face them, Tonks' expression somewhat despairing, Teddy decided the only thing to do was to simply jump in at the deep end.

"Where's Dad, Mum?" he asked, attempting to keep his tone light, unconcerned. He could not help but feel that he had failed somewhat miserably.

"Ted..." Tonks began a little uncertainly, reaching to sweep the dark hair from her eyes as she eyed her son wearily. "Professor McGonnogal and I are having a talk, it's very important...why don't you and Vic go to class? And I'll owl you as soon as I get home..."

"Has Artemis locked him up?" Teddy asked, flinching at the look that materialised upon her face at his use of Carrow-Smyth's first name. He hadn't meant to do it, but having watched her do the same so often the night before he couldn't help but let it slip from his tongue.

"No, no, nothing like that. Just...go to class, love. I'll tell you later. Now go on, off you go..."

"So it's nothing serious?"

"No...of course not. Just go to class."

"Why? Dad's not here to teach it."

"Because if you don't Professor McGonnogal is going to put you in detention." Tonks waved an impatient hand at the pair of children, oblivious to the Headmistress' raised eyebrow. "So go on, up that staircase, quick march and I'll talk to you later!"

Teddy and Victoire both headed for the marble staircase, dragging their feet purposefully as the two witches returned to their conversation.

"It's not that I want to do it, Tonks," McGonnogal was saying as the children began a slow ascent of the steps. "It's just...getting the cover and sorting out the pay...it's such a hassle and the quality of teaching...! If it's not their subject they just hand out textbooks and tell the children to read, what good is that? I'm really sorry..."

"It's MY subject!" Tonks pointed out rather desperately. "It's my subject even more than it is Remus', if we're talking formal education! I can teach! Keep on paying Remus and I'll teach the lessons until he's better..."

Better? Teddy felt his stomach twist. Better from what?

"...it won't be for long, he'll be back long before my suspension is over!"

Teddy and Victoire did not get to hear what McGonnogal said in reply, for students had begun to make their way out of the Great Hall towards their lessons and they had reached the top of the staircase.

"I wonder what's happened to your dad." Victoire mused worriedly as they came to a halt, ready to go their separate ways, Teddy towards the Defense classroom and Victoire to Transfiguration. "It's not the full moon for a while, is it?"

"No..." Teddy mumbled, adjusting his grip upon his bag and biting his lip in concern. They did not say another word, however, for they nodded farewell to one another and went to their classrooms.

The third year's Defense Against the Dark Arts class quickly descended into chaos without a teacher to keep order, and within ten minutes of the beginning of the lesson the room was alive with noisy chatter and laughter, a few of the Slytherins had begun a paper ball fight and by the time the door finally opened at the back of the room a fleet of paper aeroplanes was in the process of dive bombing the Ravenclaw girls in one corner. At the sound of the door opening the class fell instantly silent, eyes forward until an unfamiliar voice commented:

"Very interesting."

The third years twisted in their seats at the sound of the voice, and all promptly gaped at the woman stood in the doorway, who was examining a stray plane that she had caught in one hand.

The Head of Aurors crushed the plane in her fingers and threw it in the vague direction of the waste paper bin, before striding purposefully up the center of the room towards the teacher's desk.

"Alright," she said as she rounded on the class, leaning back against the desk and looking around at all the faces rather uncertainly. "First things first: Who thinks they can come up with a decent reason as to why I should walk in here and not give the lot of you detention for flying a horde of paper planes around Professor Lupin's classroom?"

There was a long silence before one of the Gryffindor boys finally raised a hand.

"Yes...what's your name?"

"Finley."

"Finley. Go for it."

"You can't give us detention because you're not a teacher."

At the back of the room, a few of the Slytherins sniggered, though most of the class, including Teddy and Chester, were so bemused by the situation that they simply stared at the Auror, who grinned and said:

"Exactly right, Finley! Rule One of defending against the Dark Arts: Stand on your own two feet and don't mindlessly accept the authority of others. That's the Number One Rule, remember that, if we didn't have that Rule the Order of the Phoenix would never have been founded, Harry Potter would be dead and Voldemort would have won the War. Okay, here's another question for you: Who likes Chocoballs?"

Once again there was deafening silence.

"Nobody?" Tonks perched upon the desk, swinging her legs back and forth as she looked around at the class. Finally, Chester raised his hand and mumbled:

"I do..."

"Excellent!" Tonks leapt from the desk, causing a few of the Hufflepuffs in the front row to jump. "You can go first, Chester."

"Mrs. Lupin...?" the girl sat beside Teddy called as Chester rose uncertainly to his feet. "Um...where's Professor Lupin?"

As she reached into the pocket of her robes and drew out the largest bag of Chocoballs that Teddy had ever seen (did they even sell packets that big?), the professor's wife frowned ever so slightly as she replied:

"Professor Lupin has been taken ill."

"What's wrong with him?"

"That's a good question...what's your name?"

At the questioning look she was offered, the girl supplied:

"My name's Amanda."

"That's a good question, Amanda, I'll be asking the healers at Mungo's the exact same thing this evening. But don't worry, twice as much chocolate gets handed out when I teach his lessons. So...Chocoballs..."

Chocoballs were not nearly as nice as they usually were when you found yourself huddled in a corner of the classroom, a mass of tiny chocolate balls flying towards you at such speed that if you blinked you would miss them colliding with your face.

Surely chocolate couldn't really be so..._painful_...?

"Come on!" Teddy heard Tonks call as he made a dive for the teacher's desk, crouching underneath in relative safety. "It's simple enough: stun the chocolate, eat the chocolate! I want it all eaten before the end of class, else Filch is going to have my head on a pole!"

It had been quite possibly the most brilliant lesson in Teddy's living memory at first, when Tonks had first bewitched the bagful of chocolates causing them to float around the room at a subdued speed. They were easy targets, Teddy had eaten at least five before Tonks had grown bored of the classes' success and, with a flick of her wand, had turned the search for chocolate into a fight to remain free of sticky splodges all over their clothes as the confectioneries committed kamikaze on their robes and jumpers. The Head of Aurors settled down in the chair behind the desk, took out a compact mirror, and busied herself with morphing her hair a brighter, more cheery colour, pausing every so often to take lightening fast aim with her wand at an approaching chocolate, wordlessly stunning it and plucking it out of the air. After some five minutes of chaos she was at last satisfied with her sky blue locks, the mirror disappeared back into her pocket and she looked around the room to assess their efforts.

Orion Lynch and his fellow Slytherins had barricaded themselves in a corner with some upturned desks, Amanda was being pelted with chocolate as she consistently failed to stun the balls in time, Teddy and Chester were both huddled by Tonks' feet under the desk, the remaining Gryffindors had resorted to using their textbooks as shields and one of the Hufflepuff boys had given up all together; he stood stock still in the center of the room, splatters of chocolate all over, mouth open wide in vain hope that one of the balls might fly straight inside.

Tonks sighed heavily, and was about to raise her wand to summon the wayward chocolates back into their packaging, when the Hufflepuff boy's tactics finally paid off. A Chocoball shot from somewhere near the ceiling, like a bullet from a gun, straight into his mouth...

And down his throat...

"Bugger..." Tonks muttered as the boy's eyes widened in shock, hands reaching to claw desperately at his throat. As his knees buckled beneath him and his chubby face began to look distinctly purple, the Head of Aurors got reluctantly to her feet and, with a mumbled word and wide sweeping gesture, stunned the remaining chocolates. "Nobody panic!" she announced as she strode over towards the choking child. "Just watch carefully, this is pretty cool..." She pointed her wand directly at the boy's throat, and Teddy was pretty sure that if his eyes had not already been as wide a snitches they would have widened in further alarm, before giving her wrist a flick, and the offending ball of chocolate shot back out of the boy's throat, out of his mouth and into the opposite wall with a wet little slap.

The Hufflepuff boy drew in a deep, gasping breath as his classmates made a collective grimace at the display, and Tonks reached to pluck another stunned chocolate from it's place by her elbow, popping it into her mouth as she went back to perch upon the teacher's desk. Teddy couldn't quite believe that she could eat another one after the grotesqueness of what had just happened, but he did not comment for he and Chester were too busy scrambling out from under the desk to make room for her swinging feet.

"Well..." the Head of Aurors said as the students set about putting the desks and chairs back in their rightful spots. "I've got to admit...that was rubbish." When a few of the Hufflepuffs who were helping the purple faced boy back into his seat shot her suitably offended glances, she smiled at them, which only seemed to offend them further. "I wonder...are there any aspiring Aurors in this class?"

A few hands were raised as the last of the students took their seats, and Tonks eyed the future candidates with a frown.

"Well I'm not employing you," she finally said, pointing in the direction of the Ravenclaws sat behind Teddy and Chester. "You spent the whole time hiding! What sort of future Auror hides from a ball of bewitched chocolate?"  
Teddy was just glancing over his shoulder to see who she was pointing at when she said:

"And besides, I don't believe in nepotism. You'll have to wait for Harry to knock me off my perch, he's more up for it than I am."

Teddy stared for a second at the row of Ravenclaws, their hands all in their laps, before turning back to face his mother with wide eyes.

"ME...?" he cried, feeling his face flush in embarrassment.

"I might take you, though." Tonks mused with a grin as she pointed at the Hufflepuff who had choked. "I like your optimism." She summoned the remaining chocolates back into the packet before stuffing it back into her pocket. "Your problem, all of you, is that you're much too slow. A slow Auror is a dead Auror. Fact. So, those of you with grand plans, sharpen up or you'll never make it. And the rest of you can be a bit more on the ball too, have you seen the state of this classroom? It's going to take you until the end of the lesson to clean up, because you were SLOW."

"You spent too much time with Mad-Eye Moody." Teddy grumbled a moment later as he passed her on his way to clean up another splatter of chocolate on the back wall of the room. "Dad would never make us clean up like this."

"I know." Tonks said with an infuriating smile. "But he's much better at cleaning charms than me."

By the end of the lesson, however, the Head of Aurors was certainly back in the class' good books, for she had pointed out that, since she wasn't a teacher, she supposed she couldn't set them homework.

"Plus, marking's boring." she concluded, much to their delight as they filed out of the classroom.

Teddy waited behind and watched his mother clean one last splatter of chocolate from one of the desks in the front row.

"What's wrong with Dad?" he asked, and her enthusiasm and cheer seemingly evaporated on the spot, replaced with the rather worried, tired face that he had seen in the Entrance Hall earlier that morning.

"I'm...not entirely sure, Teddy love." she admitted as the final student disappeared through the door and it swung shut, leaving mother and son entirely alone. "He...had a bit of an accident last night."

"What sort of accident?"

"He started coughing...and he just...didn't stop."

"He didn't stop?"

"No...well...he didn't stop wheezing, at least. So I took him to Mungo's."

"What was he doing?"

"Before? He'd just flooed home. Before that...I'm not sure."

Teddy allowed himself to slump forward until his cheek came to rest against her and she gave him a hug.

"He said he was better now, he said that the healers had made him better..."

"He is better, love. At least...as better as he can be. Sometimes when healers fix things...like Dad's lungs...well sometimes they can't make things as good as new, just...good enough. They'll have him sorted out soon enough, they're sick of the sight of him already, they'll patch him up and kick him out before you know it. It's not life threatening, as long as we can get him to the hospital in good time."

For a brief moment, Teddy felt relieved, until something terrible occurred to him:

"What if we can't? What if...what if he can't go to the hospital? Like...what if it's full moon?"

He had hoped for Tonks to say something to dismiss this anxiety all together, but she simply tightened her grip upon him and murmured:

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." She drew back from him and reached to smooth his disheveled hair with a smile. "Don't worry about Dad, he's survived two Wars, a werewolf attack and being married to me. It'll take more than a pair of weak lungs to bring him down." She smiled and began to lead the way over to the classroom doors. "The healers are keeping him in hospital for a few days to decide exactly what to do with him. They are potions that can help, you see, but they need to figure out which one will be best. And then they've requested you and I pop over there for a little chat."

Teddy bit his lip at this revelation.

"What sort of little chat?" he asked, not liking the sound of it at all.

"It's standard practice, apparently. One of the healers is going to teach us what to do, in case it happens again. See, he might not even wind up in hospital next time, if there is a next time."

Teddy dreaded the visit to St. Mungo's. Ever since Remus' last stay there the boy had developed a deep unease about the place. But had he known what he would discover there, he might have found himself filled with excitement as well as dread.

_Note: Since I keep on writing these end notes, I'm going to write one here..._

_No. I will not apologize for my epic cliff hanger! XD _


	17. At St Mungo's

_Note: It's been SUCH a long time since I updated that I can barely remember what I was supposed to write..._

_I'm sorry I've neglected this fic! I'm so busy with university and I was updating Meet the Lupins and Meet the Muggles, and then I decided to start a new fic and make the situation even worse! Clever me! _

_And yes, I think the title is very creative too...!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing. _

**17: At St Mungo's**

The soft, familiar rustling of a paper bag made Teddy Lupin's stomach twist uncomfortably as he stepped into the little room to find his father sat up in bed, face buried in the brown paper, inhaling deeply.

"Wotcher, love." Tonks greeted as she followed the boy inside, reaching to push the door shut behind them.

Remus paused in his inhaling to draw the paper bag away from his face, offering the two visitors a weak smile.

"Healer says I'm out of here in an...hour or two." he wheezed as his wife wandered over to his side, leaning to press a kiss to his cheek.

"Good thing too," the witch said as Teddy eyed the paper bag despairingly. "My deal with Minerva's not working out."

"It's not?"

"No...if I teach any more lessons I'll have to start marking homework!" she gave an exaggerated shudder, and the werewolf chuckled, only to find himself spluttering and coughing within seconds, shoulders hunched in an attempt to control the outburst. It was at that moment that the door opened behind them and a healer dressed in bright green robes entered the room, clutching a clipboard to her chest.

"Ah, you're here." she observed brightly as she strode purposefully into the room, straight past Teddy as if he was not even there and coming to a halt at Tonks' side. "I wonder if I might have a word with the two of you alone first." Teddy found himself offered a meaningful glance, and Tonks suggested:

"Why don't you step outside for a moment, love?"

Not at all reassured by the much too bright smile that Remus shot him, Teddy obediently shuffled over to the door, reaching to push it open before stepping out into the corridor. As the door swung shut behind him, the boy spotted a uncomfortable looking plastic chair to his right and went to sit down upon it. Bored within seconds, he resorted to counting tiles upon the ceiling to pass the time.

He had just counted tile number twenty when he heard the sound of the double doors down the corridor being thrown open, and as he turned to see who was making such a dramatic entrance, Teddy spotted a young boy, perhaps a few years his junior, hurrying down the corridor towards him. He was a rather scrawny looking child, dressed in brown cord trousers and an oversized orange t-shirt. His long blonde hair was in disarray and there was a distinctly panicked expression upon this thin, pointy face as he hurried along. To Teddy's deepest bemusement, the other boy skidded to a halt beside a large filing cabinet in which the healers kept patient files, before dropping into a crouch, pressing himself into the corner and reaching to hug his legs with his arms, face buried in his knees.

Glancing back up the corridor to find himself alone with the strange boy, Teddy rose cautiously to his feet and took a few steps forward.

"Excuse me...?" the metamorphmagus called uncertainly as the other boy seemingly burst into tears that made him tremble from head to toe. "Hello? Are you okay...?"

When Teddy took a few more steps forward, the boy's head jerked up to look at him so suddenly that the werewolf's son took a small step backwards in surprise. As a pair of watery eyes stared at him nervously, Teddy attempted to fix a friendly expression onto his face.

"Hi," he greeted, raising a hand in vague greeting. "My name's Teddy...Teddy Lupin. What's your name?" When the stranger simply continued to stare at him with wide, pale grey eyes, Teddy decided: "I guess it doesn't matter. So...so are you okay? What's wrong? You can tell me, you know, maybe I can help you...I could find somebody...or something..."

"Do you hate them too?"

At the boy's whispered question, Teddy leant forward, a small frown creasing his brow.

"Pardon?" he said, trying to ignore the boy's staring. It rather reminded him of when he had met Moirai Cantrall in the Hospital Wing and she had made the prophecy. It was not the sort of reminder that he really liked at all.

"Do you hate them too?" the boy whispered again, and before Teddy could explain that he had no clue whatsoever as to who "they" were, the younger boy's face suddenly contorted furiously and he jerked a hand up to point at Teddy accusingly. "You do, don't you?" he cried, voice a shrill shout. "You do, I know you do! You...you all do!"

Teddy was about to attempt to say something reassuring to the strange boy when he heard the sound of the double doors being thrown open again and a familiar voice announced loudly:

"Here he is!"

The boy's gaze snapped to the newcomer, his breathing ragged from his little outburst, and he cried:

"UNCLE!"

Teddy turned back towards the doors, breath catching in his throat as he found himself looking at none other than Artemis Carrow-Smyth, flanked by a couple of the hospital's healers.

Carrow-Smyth seemed not to notice the turquoise haired boy at all as he hurried down the corridor towards the blonde child, coming to an abrupt halt before him, reaching to grasp hold of him by the arm and pull him back onto his feet.

"For the love of Merlin, Elijah! You've had us worried sick!" the wizard exclaimed as the boy stared up at him, glass-eyed.

"Do you hate them, Uncle?" Elijah whispered, and Carrow-Smyth sighed heavily, reaching to lay both hands upon the boy's shoulders, steering him over towards Teddy's now vacant chair.

"No, no, of course I don't. I've told you so many times...here, sit down here for a moment, there's a good boy..."

"Why don't you bring him back to the ward when he's calmed down a little?" one of the healers, a tall woman wearing oversized spectacles suggested, eying Elijah somewhat apprehensively, and the boy's uncle look round at her with a grateful look.

"Yes, yes I'll do that." he murmured as Elijah fidgeted in his chair. "Thank you, Healer Jones."

As the two healers turned and headed back towards the double doors, Carrow-Smyth at last caught sight of Teddy, mismatched eyes widening in surprise as Teddy attempted to straighten up and say as politely as he could manage:

"Good afternoon, Mr. Carrow-Smyth."

Carrow-Smyth opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he was not entirely sure what to say, only for Elijah to make a sudden move to escape from his seat, causing the man to hastily turn his attention back to the boy, hands grasping his forearms to halt his escape.

"Sit still, Elijah." Teddy heard him instruct softly, and Teddy couldn't help but think that the grizzled wizard sounded unnaturally kind. "That's it, sit still for Uncle Artemis, won't you?" When he turned back to Teddy, his voice seemed back to it's usual sour self. "What are you doing here?" he asked, face contorting irritably.

Teddy was about to answer when he heard a door being pulled open behind him, and Carrow-Smyth's face seemingly drained of colour, he hastily straightened up, reaching to tug awkwardly at his black robes.

"Dora..." he mumbled, peering past Teddy in a distinctly abashed manner, and Teddy glanced behind him to see his mother standing in the doorway, hand still upon the door handle as she paused to stare at the trio out in the corridor with eyes as wide as Elijah's. After a moment she seemingly got over her shock, pulling the door shut behind her and taking a few steps out into the corridor, arms folded defensively across her chest.

"Hello Artemis." she greeted, sounding more awkward than he by far, and both adults seemed relieved when Elijah's gaze focused upon her and he scrambled to his feet, pushing his uncle's hands away from him.

"AUNTIE DORA!" the boy exclaimed, and Tonks offered him a weak smile and a feeble wave.

"Wotcher, Elijah!" she greeted with forced enthusiasm as the boy hurried towards her. "It's not Auntie Dora though, is it love? We're not related...thank Merlin." she added under her breath, shooting Carrow-Smyth a vague, uncertain smile that was not much more than a twitch of the lips, only for Elijah to throw his arms around her, the force of the collision making her stumble backwards a step.

"Auntie Dora doesn't hate them." Elijah announced, shooting an accusing look over his shoulder at Carrow-Smyth, and Teddy watched the wizard hastily march up the corridor, reaching to pull the boy away from the witch with an apologetic glance.

"We know, Elijah." he muttered impatiently. "Now go and sit down." As the boy obediently wandered back to his chair, the two adults were left to stare at one another, both minds clearly racing to think of what to say.

"Listen, Art..." Tonks began, hands clasped together resolutely behind her back, only for Carrow-Smyth to say:

"Dora, I..."

They both trailed off into silence. Carrow-Smyth heaved an awkward sigh and Tonks examined her boots with a frown. Teddy shuffled back a few steps towards the door of Remus' room, feeling awkward too, as if he were intruding on something very private.

"You're a bastard." Tonks announced eventually, folding her arms across her chest again and fixing the man stood before her with a stare. "You're an interfering little bastard, and I want you to leave my husband alone."

Carrow-Smyth drew breath to reply, but she held up a hand to silence him.

"But," she went on, frowning slightly as if doing so was an effort. "I shouldn't have hexed you. It was wrong of me. And I'm sorry."

For a long moment, Carrow-Smyth looked somewhat overwhelmed by this admission of guilt, but eventually he murmured:

"Thank you."

For a moment Teddy thought that Tonks would go as far as to truly smile at him, but then he admitted:

"But I can't. Leave him alone, I mean. I hope you can understand."

Tonks' lips pursed together into a thin line and she regarded the man in silence for a long moment before she said:

"Ted?"

"Yes Mum?" Teddy mumbled, watching worriedly as he watched her fingers toying with the opening of the pocket in which she kept her wand.

"Go and sit with Dad." she instructed without giving him so much as a glance, and as he mumbled obediently and turned to shuffle slowly towards the door, he heard her take a few steps towards Carrow-Smyth, her voice a mixture of fury and disbelief.

"You're bloody mental, Artemis! Seriously...this is insane."

"Somebody's got to do it." Teddy heard the wizard explain carelessly, and the boy paused by the door to listen for a moment or so longer.

"No they bloody don't!" Tonks snapped, struggling not to raise her voice. "Art...listen to me...I'm warning you, don't screw around with me. Remus is sick, Merlin knows what a spell in Azkaban would do to him..."

"What's wrong with him?"

"That's none of your business, I'm just asking you to attempt to be a decent human being..."

"Is it serious?"

"No..."

"Pity..."

"Sweet Merlin, listen to what you're saying, Artemis. It's...it's inhuman..."

"It's for you."

"That's offensive, you know?"

"So...if he's sick...just how far are you prepared to go to stop me?"

Teddy just about caught sight of the smug smile upon his face as he eyed the witch thoughtfully before the door was pulled open and he found the healer inside offering him a questioning look.

"In or out?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, and he hurriedly shuffled into the room. Once sat down upon the edge of Remus' bed, he attempted to concentrate on telling his father all about Chester and his silly attitude towards Victoire, just for something to talk about, but found himself much too preoccupied with just what might be going on out in the corridor. He decided against telling his father that Carrow-Smyth was out there talking to Tonks, he rather supposed Remus didn't need the drama. After some fifteen minutes the healer began to get rather impatient, commenting that she had other patients to see to, and so Remus suggested Teddy stick his head outside to see what was taking his mother so long. As he slid off of the bed and headed for the door, Teddy wondered exactly what he would see upon opening the door, whether or not he would find the two adults at each others' throats, or midway through a duel whilst Elijah took cover behind the filing cabinet...

When he did finally poke his head out of the door, Teddy barely managed not to jump back and crack his head on the door frame in surprise. First he spotted Elijah, back crouched down beside the filing cabinet, face buried in his hands, oblivious to the world.

Secondly he turned just in time to see Artemis Carrow-Smyth's arms being wrenched free of his mother's waist, before the witch in question gave him a firm shove backwards, away from their position sandwiched up against the wall, causing him to trip backwards and fall flat upon his back with a distinct groan of pain.

As her son stared at her with wide, shocked eyes, Tonks reached to wipe the back of her hand across her mouth, expression momentarily shocked too, before she turned on her heel and marched back towards her husband's room, as if nothing strange had happened in the slightest, with a cheery:

"C'mon then, Teddy love."


	18. Confessions

_Note: Another update! SHOCKING! There's some fluff in here, so enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**18: Confessions**

"So," Victoire concluded, holding up the piece of parchment and clearing her throat in a business-like manner. "Carrow-Smyth has a nephew named Elijah..."

"Another fruitcake." Chester added, and as the girl shot him a unimpressed look, Teddy reached to hug his legs to his chest.

"He's a bit strange, he reckons the whole world...besides Auntie Dora...has it in for...somebody..."

"A group of people, actually. He said them, not him or her." Chester pointed out, looked pleased with his correction.

"Right. Anything else, Ted?"

At Victoire's questioning look, Teddy hurriedly shook his head. Of course there had been something else, but he didn't care to imagine just what his friends would think if he told them that he had caught his mother kissing Carrow-Smyth. In fact he wasn't entirely sure what he thought of it himself. He'd been feeling suitably distracted by this worrying development all day, only half listening to the healer's demonstration at the hospital and mind wandering when he had followed his parents out of the hospital some hour later. Once home he'd watched his mother kiss his father goodbye, hugging him tightly with a bright see you later, and then the boy had stumbled after his father into the floo.

Come late evening Teddy was still attempting to make sense of what he had seen, and it was keeping him wide awake, despite his desire to get plenty of sleep ready for Quidditch practice in the morning.

It was half past eleven when he climbed out of bed and went to his trunk in search of the Marauders' Map. A few whispered words later and Teddy returned to bed, staring searchingly down at the map until he spotted what he was looking for. As he stared down at the small, immobile dot that was labeled Remus Lupin, Teddy wondered just what his father would have to say when Teddy told him what he had seen.

Should he even tell him in the first place?

He was pretty certain that a bombshell such as this had never befallen his parents' marriage. He had no idea what would happen if it did.

But what was he going to do if he didn't tell anybody? He couldn't concentrate, couldn't sleep...

And so Teddy climbed out of bed and went to pull on his dressing gown.

He found Remus stooped low over his desk, furiously scribbling notes upon the bottom of an essay, so focused on his task that the door creaking open did not draw his attention until he had finished his sentence. Teddy watched as the werewolf's expression went from disaproving, to secretly amused before resting on concerned. It was only then that Teddy realized just how downcast his own expression must have looked.

"Hot chocolate?" the professor asked at last, putting down his quill and rising to his feet, and at the boy's small nod he smiled and said: "Sit down then."

Teddy shuffled over to drop down into a chair beside the fire, curling up on the leather seat and watching in silence as his father summoned the necessities for hot chocolate. The coco powder was measured out onto a spoon with careful precision and as it was dissolved in the milk by the spoon stirring of its own accord, Teddy again wondered if what he was about to do was entirely wise. But then he found himself offered a mug and as he wrapped his hands around the warm china surface, watching Remus take a seat opposite him, he knew that he would tell his father everything. That was what fathers were for, after all.

"Tell me everything, then." Remus instructed, eyebrow raised with a smile. "Let me guess, it's Chester...no, no it's Victoire..." When Teddy failed to smile, he finally decided: "It's me."

Teddy wanted to mumble it's Mum snogging Carrow-Smyth, but he was pretty sure that the situation required a little more tact, so he stayed silent. He watched Remus lean back in his chair with a small sigh, before taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"Listen, Teddy," the werewolf said after a moment, resting his mug upon his knee. "There really is no need to worry, I'm not terribly ill, I just won't be running any marathons any time soon."

Peering over the rim of his mug at his father, scrutinizing his pale, tired face, Teddy told him:

"Mum seems to think you're pretty sick. She told Carrow-Smyth you were." When Remus merely took another sip of his hot chocolate, Teddy added: "He was at the hospital today, with his nephew."

"I didn't know he had a nephew." Remus commented, sounding entirely uninterested, but Teddy persisted.

"His name's Elijah. Mum knows him, he called her Auntie Dora and gave her a hug."

Again, Remus simply sipped his hot chocolate, only looking up when Teddy admitted:

"Carrow-Smyth and Mum...they...they had a row."

"They did?"

"Yeah..." Teddy mumbled, shifting in his chair under the werewolf's curious gaze. "They were arguing about you."

There was a short pause as Remus frowned deeply, only fix a suitably unconcerned expression onto his face as he commented:

"Yes well, they do seem to be rather good at that, don't they? Don't worry about them, Ted. They may well act as though they mean to murder one another, but they've caused problems enough without taking it any further. They know that. It'll all blow over soon enough." He rose from his chair, mug in one hand as he wandered over to the desk, reaching for a large tin that had been set down beside the collection of ink bottles. Teddy watched him pull the lid off and turn to offer the open container to the boy. "Cookie? Go on, they're your Grandmother's finest."

Teddy stuck his hand into the tin and selected a cookie, resting it upon the arm of his chair, finding that he had no real desire to eat it. He watched Remus take one for himself before replacing the tin's lid and returning to his chair. The werewolf took a small bite of biscuit, gaze upon the fire as he chewed slowly. For a moment there was silence, broken only the the crackle of the fire in the grate, and Teddy felt somewhat unnerved by the tranquility when so much seemed to be going horribly, horribly wrong.

"Dad..." the boy murmured, once again shifting uncomfortably in his chair, narrowly avoiding knocking the cookie off and onto the floor. "Something...something happened...at the hospital." He was grateful that Remus' only response was to take another bite of cookie, the steady, muffled sound of chewing seemed strangely reassuring. "Mum and Carrow-Smyth...they...they were..." Teddy trailed off into silence, fixing his gaze upon his feet, taking a deep breath before admitting: "They were kissing."

The muffled noise stopped.

Teddy sucked in a sharp breath and glanced up to find his father still staring into the fire, jaw visibly clenched. There was a sizable pause before Remus got to his feet again, abandoning his mug and half a cookie upon the desk, turning his back on his son as he headed to a chest of drawers beside the grindylow tank.

"I seriously doubt it, Theodore." the werewolf told the boy as he drew the wand from the pocket of his robes and began to mumble a series of incantations that caused a series of locks upon the drawers to click undone.

"But I saw them." Teddy pointed out, frowning as Remus set about rummaging through the top drawer. "He had his arms around her and..."

"I don't dispute that, Ted, but...but adult relationships are...complicated."

"That doesn't make any sense, Dad." Teddy pointed out as a glass was extracted from the drawer. "Either you believe me or you don't."

Remus paused in his searching to lean against the chest of drawers, head bowed in thought for a moment before he heaved a heavy sigh and turned back to look at his son. Teddy eyed him worriedly. It was not like his father to sound so...muddled...

"What I mean to say, Teddy, is that I believe you if you say you saw them kissing. But...but there is a difference between them kissing and...and..." he trailed off into silence again, reaching to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly before explaining: "Kissing might involve two people, Ted, but you can kiss somebody without them kissing you back."

"Why would Carrow-Smyth do that?" Teddy asked with a frown. "I mean...Mum's married to you." He rather regretted speaking, then, for Remus promptly turned back to the drawer to resume his search, mumbling something unintelligible under his breath. There was a long silence as Remus pushed one draw shut in favour of the one below it, before he finally told his son:

"There's nothing to worry about, Teddy. It's just a silly misunderstanding, that's all. Go back to bed."

"I don't really understand what there is to misunderstand, Dad." Teddy admitted cautiously, and Remus glanced back at him with a strained smile and said:

"Neither do I, Ted. It's a good question. If I happen across Mr. Carrow-Smyth any time soon I'll be sure to ask him for you."

Teddy stared blankly at his father. He could not quite decide whether or not Remus was joking.

"Honestly," Remus assured him, folding his arms resolutely across his chest. "There isn't anything to worry about. What did you expect? I'm not filing for divorce, Ted, there's too much paperwork involved."

At last, Teddy felt relief wash over him, and he allowed himself to snigger.

"It's not your mother's fault, I'm sure." Remus told him, turning back to the drawer. "We ought just be glad she didn't hex him again."

"Doesn't it bother you that they used to...to date and stuff?" Teddy asked, feeling almost ashamed to ask such a question, and the werewolf shrugged, at last extracting a small glass bottle of amber coloured liquid from the drawer. As he turned to set both it and the glass down upon the desk, Teddy identified the bottle as Ogden's Finest Fire Whiskey.

"She left him, then she married me. What is there to worry about, Ted? Remus asked, offering the boy a raised eyebrow. "Don't go being paranoid, you're much too young and you'll upset your mother. Now go on, get to bed, it's getting very late and I've got to finish this marking, I'm very behind."

Feeling rather foolish, Teddy drained the last of his hot chocolate and, shoving the cookie unceremoniously into his mouth, made for the door. The door was just swinging shut behind him, when Teddy heard the unmistakable sound of the floo roaring into life. He instantly turned back to the door, stooping to peer through the keyhole.

"Don't you reckon," his mother's voice announce as she stepped out into the office, reaching to dust soot from the front of her robes, "since you've just been discharged from hospital you might like to come home at a reasonable hour and get a decent night's sleep?" Teddy watched her saunter across the room as Remus froze, staring determinedly at the wall in front of him. As she came to a halt just behind him, reaching to wrap her arms tightly around his middle, the werewolf visibly tensed.

"Something wrong, love?" she asked, frowning into the back of his jumper, and through the keyhole, Teddy held his breath apprehensively.

"No, I'm absolutely fine." Remus assured her quietly, reaching to untangle her arms from around him so he could turn to regard her searchingly. "What about you?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back against the desk. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am," she told him brightly, reaching to rest her hands upon his arms. "Why wouldn't I be? You're the one who's been stuck in hospital all day long."

"Hmm...that's true." he agreed, one eyebrow raised as he straightened up and turned his attention back to the fire whiskey. "But then again, you're the one who's been stuck between Carrow-Smyth's lips and a hard brick wall. I think you win, when it comes to traumatic experiences today."

There was a long and painful silence. Teddy watched his mother take a small step backwards, hands wringing together awkwardly as Remus poured himself a generous glassful of whiskey.

"How..." she began, only to trail off, muttering: "Ted told you."

"Mm." Remus agreed as he raised the glass to his lips, taking a generous gulp before setting it back down upon the desk. "Not the sort of nightmare I was expecting to hear about, to be honest."

Tonks watched in silence as he turned back to regard her with a distinctly unamused stare.

"I can explain..." she began hurriedly, fiddling with the sleeve of her robes nervously. "It's...it's not what it looks like, honestly..."

"I think it's exactly what it looks like." Remus interupted, and for a brief moment both Tonks and Teddy looked mortified, only for the werewolf to tell his wife: "I think it looks like Carrow-Smythis even more of a bastard than I first thought he was."

Teddy jumped a little at the sound of Tonks' small squeak of relief, and the witch lunged forward to throw her arms around the professor with a muffled sob.

"Don't bloody scare me like that!" she complained, and Remus let out a humourless chuckle. "I'm so glad you're not mad!" she exclaimed, hugging him fiercely, "You have no idea...!"

"You're right Dora, I don't. I really don't."

Again, there was a pause, before her arms fell limp at her sides and she peered up at him, lips pursed together worriedly.

"Oh Merlin..." Teddy heard her breath. "You are mad, aren't you? You're...you're really mad..."

"I'm not happy, no." the werewolf agreed, once again reaching for his glass, and Teddy watched him drain the glass in a couple of large gulps before putting it down again with possibly more force than was entirely necessary. When he crossed his arms again, Teddy bit his lip in worry.

"Why didn't you tell me? I mean...we were in that room for at least an hour, Dora, you could have sent Ted for coffee, we could have talked about it..."

"I didn't want to worry you." Tonks insisted, staring up at him imploringly. "You're ill, I thought...I thought I'd wait..."

"Wait for what? Wait for Teddy to tell me? For Merlin's sake, Dora, in what strange reality are you living in that you think it better for me to hear news like this from my SON instead of you?"

"I thought he'd keep his mouth shut..."

"Why on earth would he do that? Would you keep your mouth shut if you were him? Just think what must be going through his head!"

"I'm sorry...I'm really, really sorry..."

"Is there anything else you might care to tell me? Or is my health just that bit too fragile?"

Teddy watched the two adults stare at one another for a long moment, until she seemingly couldn't meet his gaze any longer and turned to pace towards the fireplace.

"Artemis...he...he was joking about the broom cupboard again..." she explained, halting when she reached the fireplace and turning to pace back across the room towards her husband. Her pace faltered somewhat when Remus asked:

"The broom cupboard...?"

"Yeah the broom...oh shit. Shit...I...I never told you about...about the broom cupboard..."

If the situation had not been so horribly serious, Teddy might have laughed at the wide eyed expression that materialised upon Remus' face.

"Well," the werewolf said, reaching to grip the desk behind him as if bracing himself for impact. "There's no time like the present, is there?"

Tonks resumed her pacing, noticably doubling her speed as she clutched her hands together behind her back.

"Just before I left the Ministry...just before Umbridge found out about us, I mean...well...well Artemis found out we were married and I...I had to shut him up so I...I dragged him into a broom cupboard..." She trailed off into reluctant silence, only for Remus to prompt:

"And?"

"And...well...it's a rather long story..."

"We've all night."

"...I modified his memory...but...but somebody walked in on us so I...I sort of..."

"You sort of?"

"I sort of...kissed him. As a cover up, you know? Like...like I thought it might put Umbridge off a bit! Obviously it didn't do much good...but...but well I thought you'd understand because...because the Order needed me there as long as possible..." she trailed off, pausing to look over at him hopefully.

Teddy attempted to read his father's expression upon hearing this revelation. It was, he supposed...stoic.

"It was...it was quite funny...sort of...Kingsley laughed, anyway..." Tonks babbled rather nervously, only for Remus' eyes to drift shut with a sigh.

"It's a very humurous mental image." the werewolf agreed, face contorting a little in what Teddy supposed was some form of revulsion, then he opened his eyes again and his expression returned to one of mild, light hearted interest. "So, Artemis was talking about...that."

"Yeah..." Tonks muttered, reaching to swipe at her eyes with a sleeve. "I told him I wouldn't let him have you sent to Azkaban, I asked him to try and be a decent person..." At Remus' snort of disbelief she looked vaguely embarrassed. "I know, I know, I told him you were sick, that I wouldn't let him carry on like this because...because I don't want you getting any worse."

Reaching to bury his face in his hands, Remus complained:

"I'm not THAT ill, for Merlin's sake!"

"Shut up!" his wife snapped, life finally beginning to creep back into her voice. "You heard the healers, you're not going to get any better! It's bad enough the stress of the full moon nearly killing you every month without your lungs giving out at other times too! Lycanthropy and permanent lung damage don't bloody mix, Remus! So excuse me for being just a little concerned!" Little outburst over, leaving Remus to stare somewhat guiltily at his shoes, she continued. "The bastard basically wished you dead...and then had the nerve to say he hoped for my sake! I told him I'd do anything I could to stop him...he said...he said he'd see how far I'd go. So I tried to reason with him, I told him I knew he could be a good person. He can be, Remus. He's got a nephew he looks after, Elijah. The kid's parents died and it's driven him crazy...it was terrible, it was in the news and everything. But Artemis is good to him, he looks after him. And he was good when I...when I was with him...sometimes. I...I told him all that, said I wanted to know where the old Artemis had gone. Then he...he went a bit...a bit weird..."

"What do you mean, a bit weird?" Remus asked, though Teddy couldn't help but think he sounded as though he didn't really wish to know.

"Well..." Tonks mumbled, shoulders hunched a little as she paused in her pacing once again. "He...he sort of said he hadn't changed at all. Not...not really. He said I'm still the same person you...you..."

"Loved." Remus supplied for her, and her hair darkened to an embarrassed shade of red.

"Yeah...that. And I said I hoped so because that person was...was kind and decent, and he'd do the right thing. He said he knew what the right thing was, so I said...I said..."

"You said?"

She drew in a deep breath and said:

"Prove it. I said prove it, Artemis. And...and I think...I think he misunderstood me. A lot."

Remus reached to run a weary hand through his hair, frowning deeply as she explained:

"That's when Teddy came out into the corridor and found us...up against the wall..."

"I can imagine." the werewolf mumbled hurriedly, apparently not interested in a more detailed description. He sighed heavily, shaking his head. "Sweet Merlin..." Teddy heard him mutter to himself.

Tonks came to a halt before him, holding her arms out to him, one eyebrow raised.

"And there you have it." she announced, seemingly glad to have the story over and done with. "Do we get to kiss and make up now?"

"You tell me." her husband said, peering down at her with a frown, and she frowned straight back at him.

"What else do you need to know?" she asked, bordering on irritated, and he told her:

"Well if I knew that I wouldn't need you to tell me, would I?"

Tonks pursed her lips together in consideration before telling him:

"Well he's never kissed me like that before, if that's what you're wondering." she sighed, puffing her cheeks reluctantly when he failed to stop staring at her expectantly. "What exactly ARE you wondering, Remus?"

"Several things..." he decided after a moment, fingers tapping thoughtfully upon the desktop behind him.

"Such as?"

"Such as...is this...is this the only time...?"

"I said it was."

"Well yes, but..." He trailed off into silence, pursing his lips together as he regarded her searchingly.

"Well...I suppose work is...awkward with him around." Tonks mused, still holding her arms out hopefully. "But I think he's obnoxious and inappropriate to ninety-nine percent of the female population of Wizarding Britain, given half the chance. I'm only a tiny bit special." When this was seemingly too vague a response she admitted: "Once I tripped over in his office and he told Jordan Grainsford that he'd seen my lacy red knickers...he called it out in the middle of the Atrium...but he might have been lying...I'd have called them more pink than red..."

"They're red."

"You think so?"

"They're definitely red."

"Oh..."

"Dora?"

"Hm?"

"This is getting out of hand."

Teddy squinted to see Tonks bite her lip somewhat guiltily, only to let out a small sigh of relief when Remus finally consented to putting his arms around her.

"What are we going to do?" she asked after a moment, her voice muffled by the werewolf's jumper, and Remus paused to press a kiss atop her head before deciding:  
"Well...either you go and file a formal complaint to the Wizengamot and get him suspended for inappropriate behavior..."

"I can't do that. If he gets sacked...he's got Elijah to look after."

"Or I get myself arrested for cold blooded murder..."

"Again...I don't think that's a good idea. I think the whole point of all this is that we keep you out of prison."  
To Teddy's relief, both parents sniggered.

"Do you really want to kill him?" Tonks asked after a moment, reaching to wrap her arms tightly around her husband's neck, and the wizard gave a shrug.

"Not really, no." he murmured, hands coming to rest upon her hips. "He's not worth that much effort, truth be told. I mean...a kiss up against a wall..." a gentle nudge set the pair shuffling back towards the wall beside the fireplace. "It's not really that impressive, is it?" he finished as her back met the cool stone surface. The pink haired witch sniggered as she found herself grasped by the wrists, arms pinned above her head. Teddy instantly shut his eyes.

"Much. Too. Easy..." he heard Remus conclude, and a long moment later he added: "And so what if he's seen your knickers...the number of times you fall over, who HASN'T seen them?"

"Git."

"It's true. I think Alastor saw them, that time you tripped on the stairs..."

"Carry on with this conversation and you won't see them for at least a month."

"I bet I will. You can't go that long without tripping."

"Is that a euphemism?"

"Quite possibly. But then again, possibly not. You and Artemis up against a wall is one thing, but you and Alastor on the stairs..."

"I'm warning you, Remus. Two months!"

"I'm sorry."

"I bet."

As he heard his mother sniggering, Teddy wondered whether or not he wanted to look euphemism up in the dictionary. He strongly suspected not. He dared a peek through the keyhole after a few minutes and tried not to think too much about just how his parents had ended up sprawled upon the rug before the fire, her head resting upon his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." he heard his mother whisper, shifting so that she could toy with the hem of the werewolf's jumper absentmindedly, and after a moment Remus observed:

"You still feel for him."

"What? That's...that's just...I don't. Not one bit!"

As she squirmed in an attempt to turn and look at him, he merely tightened his grip upon her until she stopped trying to move.

"Yes you do." he insisted softly, and Teddy felt his heart give a small jolt.

"You're wrong." she protested, grasping a fistful of jumper resolutely, but he took no notice of her.

"You don't truly hate him. You won't hate him, you still feel for him. You just don't love him." The werewolf smiled vaguely up at the ceiling. "And I love you for it."


	19. For All Our Sakes

_Note: It's a bit short, but I wanted the next part all in one chapter! I hope you enjoy it all the same!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**19: For All Our Sakes**

The following day turned out to be worse than the one before it by far, indeed within half an hour of being shaken awake Teddy became convinced that it was quite possibly one of the worst days of his entire life.

It was precisely 7am when Teddy was awoken by a hand shaking him by the shoulder and as he groggily opened his eyes the young Gryffindor heard his father's voice insisting:

"Wake up, Theodore."

Teddy screwed his eyes shut and opened his mouth to mumble a protest at his rude awakening, when a second voice made his eyes snap open and he sat bolt upright in bed.

"Hurry up, I don't have all day for this!"

As Teddy's horrified gaze came to rest upon the black-cloaked figure of Artemis Carrow-Smyth standing in the doorway of his dormitory, beside his bed Remus glanced over at the other wizard in order to tell him:

"We'll be ready in five minutes."

Carrow-Smyth's gaze in return was one of deepest resentment.

"Would you rather me have you arrested, Professor Lupin? Or will you cooperate fully with the Ministry as you so graciously promised this morning?"

As Teddy felt his heart begin to pound in his chest in alarm, around the room the other students were gradually beginning to wake up and witness the invasion of their dormitory.

"Professor Lupin? What's going on?"

"Who's he?"

Remus seemed somewhat oblivious to the questions being directed at him as he told Carrow-Smyth:

"I've agreed to be questioned before a court of my own free will, you have absolutely no right whatsoever to threaten to arrest me. I do not appreciate your scare mongering in front of my son. My wife may feel disinclined to lodge formal complaints against you, but I can assure you that in that respect she and I do not see entirely eye to eye." As a frosty silence descended over the room, the werewolf turned back to his son and instructed: "Get out of bed."

Numbly, Teddy reached to throw back the covers and scramble out of bed. As he hurried to open his trunk with fumbling fingers to search for clothes, Remus told him:

"Get dressed and come downstairs, we'll wait for you there."

"What's going on?" Teddy finally managed to ask as Carrow-Smyth gave an impatient huff.

"I'll explain once you come downstairs." Remus told him, gaze wandering to the staring faces of the other Gryffindor boys. And with that, the professor turned and disappeared out of the door, Carrow-Smyth stalking after him.

There was momentary silence before the room burst into conversation.

"What in Merlin's name was all that about..."

"Ha! Did you see the look on that bastard's face?"

"Who does he think he is, acting all high and mighty..."

"Yeah well Lupin just verbally battered him..."

"He looked pissed off!"

Hands trembling, Teddy rushed to unbutton the front of his pyjamas as he heard some soft thump of Chester flopping down onto his vacated bed.

"Ted?"

As he shrugged off his pyjamas and snatched up a t shirt, Teddy turned to regard his best friend grimly.

"I think Dad's in trouble." the metamorphmagus murmured, and Chester bit his lip in consideration.

"I dunno, Teddy mate, he said he hadn't been arrested, he said he was allowing the Ministry to question him of his own free will..."

"Well that's bloody stupid of him, isn't it? Carrow-Smyth HATES him, Ches!"

"But it looks good, doesn't it? Volunteering like that?"

Teddy shook his head despairingly.

"I don't know what he thinks he's doing," he said as he snatched up a pair of jeans. "But I do know one thing. We're running out of time. We have to find the Child."

When Teddy made a slow, reluctant descent of the stairs to the common room a few minutes later, he paused halfway when he heard a distinctly strained, formal conversation going on just around the corner.

"I must say, this is all very sudden, Professor."

"It is. But we have discussed the situation and have decided that this is what is best for Theodore."

"I see. And Tonks...agrees with you entirely?"

"Of course."

"You surprise me. I was under the impression from our numerous conversations together that she was dead against you risking a trip to Azkaban."

"I see no risk. We have nothing to hide."

"There is always a risk. Have you considered what would happen to your son, should the Ministry rule against him?"

Teddy felt something in his stomach clench at the question. Against...him?

"We have considered all of the possibilities, yes. Even those not even remotely likely."

"I can't imagine how difficult that would be for you, to lose a child, or indeed for him to lose his parents."

"Indeed. But one must consider, Mr. Carrow-Smyth, that even Voldemort and his Death Eaters failed to take me away from my son. And if he didn't manage it, I seriously doubt that I shall allow the Ministry of Magic to do so, either."

At that moment, Teddy stepped around the corner and down the final few steps into the common room, finding the two adults stood somewhat impatiently by the portrait hole.

"We shall just drop in on the Headmistress briefly, before we leave." Carrow-Smyth told the two Lupins as Teddy shuffled up to Remus' side, and with that the man lead the way out of Gryffindor Tower.

"What's going on, Dad?" Teddy asked as they set off down a staircase, the Fat Lady staring after them in silent curiosity. "What have you done?"

"I think it is more of a case of what I haven't done, Teddy." Remus said, surprising the boy with a small smile. "Your mother and I have decided that the three of us should submit ourselves for questioning by the Ministry, to prove that we have nothing whatsoever to do with Moirai Cantrall's prophecy, or indeed the attacks that have been going on."

Teddy pursed his lips together against protest for many long minutes until they came to a halt outside of the entrance to the Headmistress' office, whereupon Carrow-Smyth was permitted to enter, leaving the other two alone. As soon as Carrow-Smyth was out of sight, Teddy rounded on his father with wide, panicked eyes.

"Dad, I don't think this is a good idea!"

Remus reached to lay a reassuring hand upon the boy's shoulder.

"I'm sure everything will turn out just fine, Ted..."

"No, Dad! No it won't! That man up there, he HATES you! He hates you, he's going to get us into such trouble!"

"Listen to me, Teddy." Remus said, voice much too calm as far as the child was concerned. "We don't have much choice in the matter. The Ministry are going to ask questions whether we like it or not, we're just choosing to show a bit more willing, that's all. Your mother and I have been up half the night discussing it. It's better this way, Ted. It's better that we are seen to cooperate like this. And before you know it this whole entire mess will be over with..."

"It's because of him and Mum, isn't it?" Teddy cried, eyes wide in a mixture of horror and fury. "You're mad with him, aren't you? You just...you just want to get one up on him in front of the Wizengamot or...or something! Well it's crazy, Dad! It's crazy, he's got half the Wizengamot in his pocket, he'll eat you for breakfast!"

"Don't be bloody ridiculous, Teddy!" Remus snapped, turning away to stare impatiently at the end of the corridor, and Teddy bit his lip at the realisation that he had hit a raw nerve, for he could not recall the last time that his father had sworn in front of him, let alone at him without even seeming to realise his blunder. Now the child came to think of it, Remus did look a little on the strained side. His face was pale and as he stood with one hand shoved into the pocket of his robes Teddy could see through the material that the hand was clenched into a tight fist. The werewolf reached to rake a hand through his hair, rocking back on his heels before he turned back to fix Teddy with a firm look.

"Listen to me, Teddy." he said, voice low enough that Teddy could only just hear it. "All of those things your mother and I tell you, about werewolves and...and how we should hold our heads high...I want you to...to not think about...about any of that."

Teddy stared at him in complete and utter incomprehension.

"What...?"

"Do you remember what happened that summer when you were three? When it was full moon and your mother forgot to sound proof the room downstairs?"

"Dad...stop it..."

"You cried for hours, Ted, you thought I was dying. I scared you half to death, and you cried every full moon for for five months, I'd drop you round to Harry's and you'd cling to me when I tried to leave..."  
"Dad..."

"You said _Don't let Daddy leave, Harry. He'll die_. And do you remember how your mother and I would argue when you were younger, when I couldn't get a job? Do you remember?"

"Yes, but..."

"And I'm always ill every month, when you are home and Mum is at work you run around after me all day and it's boring and you shouldn't have the worry."

"I don't mind..."

"And there's always that thought, in the back of your head, just like your mother. You both wonder when you go to bed those nights, are the wards set, are they going to work, was the Wolfsbane brewed correctly..."

"Dad, seriously, stop it..."

"I need you to remember all of those things, Teddy. And I need you to remember whose fault they are."

"Greyback's."

"No, mine. They're my fault, Teddy."

"No!"

"Remember it and believe it, Ted. I was selfish, I chose to have a family, that makes all of those things my fault."

"But Dad...!"

"Blame me, Theodore. For all our sakes."

Teddy opened his mouth to protest furiously, to point out just how appalled Tonks would be to hear Remus insist such awful things, to complain that he didn't understand why he should suddenly come to believe such rubbish, but it was at that moment that Carrow-Smyth reappeared and so the boy kept his mouth firmly shut.

The subsequent journey to the Ministry of Magic was made in stony silence. Teddy's mind continuously raced to try and make sense of all that Remus had told him, but he found laying blame upon his father difficult to say the least, in fact he was sure that he could not even consider it. It had hurt, Teddy realised, to hear such words, it was painful, it made Teddy angry...

"Wotcher, Teddy love."

At the sound of his mother's voice, Teddy was snapped from his thoughts and he blinked himself back to reality just in time to feel Tonks' arms lock tightly around him.

"Don't be worried, Sweetheart." the child heard her whisper into her hair as he bent to press a kiss atop his head. "Just remember what Dad said and tell them the truth."

When the Head of Aurors drew away from him in favour of throwing her arms around her husband's neck, Teddy found himself stood in the corridor outside of the Ministry courts. He vaguely wondered why he barely remembered how he had gotten there, his mind felt numb, slow...

He turned slowly around to look at his parents, watching as Tonks released her hold upon Remus in order to reach to straighten the front of his robes with a small frown.

"I'm glad it'll all be over with." Teddy heard her murmur, before she leaned forward to press a lingering kiss to his lips. Behind them, Carrow-Smyth seemed to be unsure of quite where to look. Had he not been so nervous, Teddy might have looked smug.

"Stop provoking him." the boy heard Remus murmur a moment later when they finally broke apart, and Teddy saw her lips curve into a smile before leaning to kiss the werewolf again. Remus permitted the briefest of kisses before reaching to prise her away from him, battling against a smile until both parents turned their attention back to Teddy.

"Remember," Tonks said, reaching to smooth the boy's hair. "Speak nice and clearly, won't you? It'll be over before you know it, then Dad can take us for ice cream!"

"Just tell them the truth, Ted. That's all there is to it."

And, with those parting words from his parents, the door behind Teddy creaked open and before he could say anything at all he found Carrow-Smyth at his side, reaching to lay a hand upon the child's shoulder.

And so it was that Teddy found himself being led into the courtroom, desperately attempting to ignore the assault of nerves that were twisting his stomach into knots.


	20. Trickery and Whimpered Plea

_Note: It's been forever! I am taking time to make sure that all three stories get updated, since it's all been a bit focused on the Meet the... stories! Sorry about that, my bad! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any money from this piece of writing._

**20: Trickery and Whimpered Plea**

As he sat upon the hard wooden chair in the middle of the courtroom, Teddy felt his stomach twisting into sickening knots as the witches and wizards of the Wizengamot stared at him in silence. He felt so petrified that he barely noticed the man sat behind the judge's desk rise to his feet.

"For court records, please state your full name." the grim faced wizard said.

For a long moment, Teddy didn't say a word. He was much too busy attempting to calm his nerves, recalling that he had done this sort of thing before, that it really wasn't that difficult...

Except last time he had not been speaking in his own defense, and the grim faced wizard hadn't been grim at all, he had been Minister Shacklebolt who had shot him encouraging smiles every few minutes.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Teddy drew in a deep breath.

"Theodore Remus Lupin."

"And you are the son of Remus John Lupin, and Nymphadora Andromeda Lupin?"

"Y...yes."

"Your father is a werewolf, is he not?"

"Yes...yes he is."

"And are you aware that under Ministry legislation werewolves are classified as dark creatures?

"Yes I am."

There was a pause in the relentless questioning so that the judge could scribble something down upon the parchment in front of him. Teddy wondered what he was writing, the small action made the boy feel more nervous than ever. The man put down his quill again and leant forward, staring down at Teddy with scrutinizing eyes.

"I wonder, Theodore," he said, as Teddy attempted not to squirm under his gaze, "if you would please tell the court about your relationship with your father."

When Teddy only managed to stare rather blankly back at him, the judge tried:

"Let me ask you this, then: How do you feel about your father's...condition?"

Had it not been for Remus' unsettling words some short while beforehand, Teddy might have found this an easy question to answer. He pursed his lips together for a long moment, worried that he might say something drastically wrong, before deciding:

"Sad. It makes me sad."

"And why is that?"

Teddy frowned a little, wondering quite where he ought begin.

"Well..." he mumbled, only to pause to silently remind himself to speak up. "Well, it makes Dad ill...a lot. He gets very tired around full moon, and the transformations are...painful. I...I don't like that...I don't like to think of him hurting."

"I see." the judge said, voice still dull as if he were rather disinterested. "And how do other people react when they find out about your father's lycanthropy?"

"They can be quite cruel, I suppose." Teddy recalled, frown deepening at the thought of Carrow-Smyth and Orion Lynch. But then he thought of the Order of the Phoenix and his father's other friends and he hastily added: "But not all of them. I mean...not everybody hates werewolves...Mum married Dad, after all, and...um...and Albus Dumbledore gave him a place at Hogwarts and a job..."

"How do you feel about those cruel people?" the judge asked, and Teddy wondered if he had even heard half of what he had just said. He tried not to feel unnerved by the judge's selective hearing, and drew breath to admit just how unfair the world was, only to suddenly stop himself.

This, he suddenly realised, as the collective stare of the Wizengamot eyed him impatiently, was what Remus had been talking about.

Blame me, for all our sakes...

Don't blame anybody else.

Because surely the Child, who was apparently destined to bring ruin to those who accepted his father not, felt hatred towards anybody who showed prejudice against werewolves...

And surely the Child would adore his father above all else, and see no fault in him at all...

"People can't help being ignorant." Teddy decided, attempting to shrug carelessly. "And...and maybe they're right, about some things..."

"What things would those be?" the judge asked, sounding mildly surprised, and Teddy drew in a deep, calming breath, ready to babble mindlessly about any potentially bad thing he could claim about his father, but as he glanced nervously around the court room, he caught sight of somebody slipping into a seat in the spectators' gallery.

Teddy Lupin met his mother's gaze for only the briefest of moments, and his resolve was instantly rocked to the core.

She'll know I don't really feel that way, he tried to assure himself, immediately turning away from her...won't she?

What if she didn't?

It didn't matter, he'd just have to worry about it later...

"Well..." Teddy said, drawing in another deep breath. "Werewolves they...they don't make the best parents ever."

"And why is that?"

"They're dangerous...obviously. And...um...and it's not fair, I...I shouldn't have to worry about...about Dad being sick..." Once he had started, Teddy was quite hurt by just how easily the words flowed out of his mouth, and he kept his gaze fixated upon his shoes. "I used to think, when I was little, that he might...might die, or...or that he might leave Mum and I...because...because well before Mum got promoted, when Dad was unemployed, we didn't have much money to spare. And they'd argue a lot, about...about money and...and stuff. And it's rubbish having a father who's sick all the time, when Mum's at work after full moon I have to look after him and I hate it, I hate it because I don't like seeing him like that, and it's like I have to be grown up...when I'm not. It's...it's all a bit selfish of him, really, having a family. I love him dearly, but...but that's the truth."

Mindless mumbling over with, he dared a glance back in his mother's direction. She was staring at him with wide, horrified eyes. Teddy quickly looked away again.

"I see." the judge said, in the same bored tone that made Teddy wonder if he really did see at all. "Now, your father was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was." Teddy nodded a little warily, not at all sure why this was relevant at all.

"He did some very brave and important work during the War, didn't he?"

"Yes...that's right."

"You must be very proud of him."

"Very, very proud." Teddy agreed, sitting a little straighter in his chair and hoping that he might have redeemed himself in his mother's eyes, if only a little.

"It's remarkable, don't you think," the judge continued, as Teddy felt an odd urge to smile from the swell of pride inside of him, "that he was so willing to make sacrifices for the Wizarding community, despite their dislike of people like him. That's terribly unjust, don't you think?"

"Yes." Teddy decided, nodding his head again, only to halt abruptly when he realised his mistake.

Oh Merlin, he thought in panic, no, I meant no...

"I see." the judge said again, and Teddy felt a few whispers amongst the members of the Wizengamot.

"But...but they're ignorant, like...like I said before!" the werewolf's son announced hurriedly, heart hammering in his chest. "And...and Dad says that's not their fault. Just because they don't understand doesn't mean they deserved what...what Voldemort did to them! The...the Order of the Phoenix didn't fight against the Death Eaters so that people could thank them for it, they...they did it because...because..."

"We've heard quite enough, thank you." the judge announced, much to the child's horror. "You may leave the courtroom."

"But..." Teddy began, only for the man to shuffle his papers and announce:

"Next to stand please, Artemis."

And with that, Carrow-Smyth strode down the wooden steps from his seat, and Teddy found a firm hand upon his shoulder, pulling him to his feet and marching him towards the door.

He barely had the change to open his mouth to announce to Remus that he had made a horrible mistake, before Carrow-Smyth had smugly informed the waiting werewolf:

"You're next."

As Remus rose from his seat upon a stone bench and, without so much as a glance at his son, strode towards the courtroom door, both Teddy and Carrow-Smyth were distracted by the sound of pounding footsteps upon stone and they turned to see Tonks skidding to a halt at the bottom of the spiral staircase that led to the spectators' seats.

"That," she snapped furiously as Teddy hurried to throw his arms around her, "was a bloody disgrace, Artemis!"

"I don't know what you mean." Carrow-Smyth told her, sounding distinctly smug, and the Head of Aurors' hair darkened to crimson.

"How much gold did you put in his pocket?" she demanded to know, hugging her son tightly. "How much does it cost these days to have a judge trick a SCHOOLBOY into speaking in your favour?"

"I did no such thing..."

"Liar! Well you can give up looking smug, the Wizengamot aren't that bloody stupid! You ought be ashamed of yourself, Merlin help poor Elijah! He doesn't stand a chance in the world with only you to guide him!"

A rather odd expression passed across Carrow-Smyth's face at this finally attack upon him, and Teddy couldn't help but think that his mother had hit a raw nerve. The blonde haired wizard took a long moment to find his voice, and when he spoke, he sounded distinctly shaken.

"I...I always do what is best for Elijah. Always! N...no matter what!"

"I can see that." Tonks said coldly, releasing Teddy so that she could rest a hand upon his shoulder instead. "It's just a shame that you have absolutely no idea what is best for him at all."

"How can you claim to know what is best for my boy?" Carrow-Smyth asked, voice still shaky. "You don't even know what's best for your own!"

As the man abruptly turned and shuffled off towards the courtroom door, Tonks heaved a heavy sigh, shaking her head.

"C'mon, Teddy love." she said, turning in the opposite direction and leading the boy slowly down the corridor. "Let's go get a drink or something."

"What was that all about?" Teddy wanted to know, but Tonks only told him:

"Nothing much."

It was some two hours later that the Wizengamot had finished quizzing both of Teddy's parents and the three Lupins were permitted to go home. According to his mother, no certain conclusion had been reached, but Teddy was sure that both she and Remus were optimistic. They settled on spending the remainder of the day at home, and that Remus and Teddy would return to Hogwarts in the morning. By the time Tonks was shooing him upstairs to go to bed, Teddy found the optimism had rubbed off on him. Tonks was surely right, the Wizengamot weren't stupid, they would spot his slip of the tongue, Carrow-Smyth's little plan was sure to fail. Then everything would go back to normal...

It was eleven o'clock at night when Teddy's world was turned upside down yet again, and it started with somebody hammering their fist urgently upon the front door, jolting Teddy awake from dreams of Quidditch glory. Next, Teddy heard the sound of the door of his parents' bedroom opening and hurried footsteps sounded on the stairs.

The young Gryffindor threw the covers off of him and he scrambled out of bed, heart pounding in anticipation as he crept to his bedroom door and slipped out onto the landing.

He could hear a strange, strangled sobbing noise coming from the hallway below, and he held his breath in worry at the thought of who might be making such a noise. He reached the top of the stairs and carefully peered around the corner and down towards the hallway, so as not to be seen...

And there stood Artemis Carrow-Smyth, his hands clasping desperately at the front of Teddy's mother's dressing gown as his shoulders shuddered with great wailing sobs.

The boy watched with wide eyes as Tonks stumbled a little and the wizard's weight slumped against her, before she reached to throw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"Shhhh..." Teddy heard her whisper, as Carrow-Smyth buried his face in her shoulder. "It's alright, Art, it's alright...just...just calm down..."

The wailing wizard drew away from her shoulder just far enough so that he could stare at her with imploring, watery eyes.

"Please..." Teddy heard him whimper, gripping her arms so hard that Teddy saw her flinch. "Please, Dora! I...I'm begging you, please! Please help me!"


	21. An Unusual Morning

_Note: It's gone 1am and I'm still writing...good thing I'm not at University in the morning!_

_I think there will be about...2 or 3 more chapters and then we are done here!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. _

**21: An Unusual Morning**

Teddy Lupin reached to clamp his hand over his mouth as he squinted through the gap of the sitting room door, hoping that he wasn't breathing anything like as loudly as he thought he was. He watched his mother ease Carrow-Smyth down into a seat upon the sofa, before reaching to tug the pale pink dressing gown closer around herself, the wizard's hold upon her having pulled the garment somewhat loose.

"Just sit here a minute," Teddy heard her instruct wearily as Carrow-Smyth slumped forward, holding his head in his hands. "Take a few deep breaths, alright? You've had a shock..."

"I...I tried to...to stop them!" the wizard complained miserably as the witch reached to run a hand through her disheveled hair with a frown. "I...I told them...I told them Theodore lied...I...I told them Remus told him what to...what to say..."

"You did WHAT?" Tonks cried, eyes widening in fury, free hand balling into a tight fist. "Artemis! That's a bloody serious accusation to make! You can't just...LIE like that! If they come round here and haul Remus back off to the Ministry, I swear...!"

"What does it matter?" Carrow-Smyth whined, sounded rather like a small child who didn't like to be scolded. "Your husband's a slippery bastard, he'll talk is way out of it, just like he can everything else."

Teddy was pretty sure that he had never heard somebody sound so terribly bitter.

"I just wanted to...to buy some time!" Carrow-Smyth complained, gazing up at the Auror forlornly. "But...but I'm not sure it's working...I...I don't know what to do, Dora, I just...I just don't know..." He reached to grasp hold of her by the hand, and Teddy waited for her to jerk away from him, but to his surprise she didn't so much as flinch. "I...I need your help. They'll listen to you, Dora, I'm sure of it."

Tonks sighed heavily, gazing up towards the ceiling searchingly for a moment before deciding:

"I don't know, Artemis..."

"Please!" the wizard pulled her forwards a few step by the hand, holding it just short of his lips as he murmured: "We're friends, aren't we? I know we don't always see eye to eye but...but we are friends, the best of friends...more than that, even, I...I love you and...and you...you love me..."

At the deep frown that he was offered at this assumption, he pulled her closer still, pressing their clasped hands to his lips as he insisted: "You do love me, I know it."

"Come on, Art, don't do this." Tonks said, eyes once again on the ceiling as she attempted to gently ease her hand free from his hold. "We've been over this, haven't we? I don't love you, I've not loved you for years, and I'm married now, aren't I? This is all completely inappropriate."

"Inappropriate?" he sounded as though he ought be outraged by the suggestion, but was far too upset to show it. "And what about that time all those years ago? Was it inappropriate when you dragged me into that broom cupboard at work..."

"That was very appropriate." Tonks interrupted impatiently, and he gawped at her for a moment before she said: "How else do you reckon I kept Umbridge for finding out about Remus and I for a few more days?"

Carrow-Smyth looked as though she had just slapped him around the face. He took a minute to find his voice before he finally choked:

"Sweet Merlin...!"

Tonks sighed again, still attempting to ease her hand free, but he continued to cling to her despite his shock.

"Look Art, I'm not proud of what I did, but..."

"You manipulative little...! Oh Merlin! No, no, no...I...I've...got it all wrong. So, so wrong..."

Teddy bit his lip as the man let out another loud sob, at last releasing Tonks' hand so that he could bury his face in his hands again.

"You're not going to help me." he whined despairingly. "You won't. I thought...I thought you...you cared! But you don't, you just...you just care about him and...and...oh Merlin!"

Though he had yet to grasp what on earth Carrow-Smyth needed help with, and though he loathed the man beyond all others, Teddy felt his stomach clench in sympathy, only for it to twist into knots at the sight of his mother stooping to wrap her arms around the wizard, hugging him tightly.

"Don't be daft, Art." the pink haired which murmured, biting her lip awkwardly when Carrow-Smyth buried her face in the front of her dressing gown. "Just because I don't love you, doesn't mean I don't care."

"But you'd help Remus over me any day." Teddy heard him mumble, and Tonks frowned over the top of his head at the back of the sofa for a long moment, before sucking in a deep breath and deciding:

"Not necessarily."

As Teddy's eyes widened at her declaration, Carrow-Smyth seemed entirely unconvinced.

"Of course you would. If you had to choose between us, if you could only save one of us..."

"Well sure, if somebody dangles the pair of you off the top of the Hogwarts Astronomy tower and I've only a second to save one of you from plummeting to your deaths...I'd save Remus, obviously..."

"See..."

"But we're not talking about something absurd like that, are we? We're talking about taking on the Wizengamot. And like you said, Remus could talk his way out of his own grave if he tried hard enough. You, on the other hand...well let's be honest, Art, looking at you right now I doubt you could talk your way out of a paper bag."

Carrow-Smyth drew back to stare up at her with wide, somewhat awed eyes and she took the opportunity to sit down beside him, reaching to rearrange the dressing gown around her knees.

"You're amazing." he said, just as he had done all those years ago back in the Hogwarts courtyard, and just as she had done then, Tonks said:

"I know I am. First things first though, and you have to be absolutely honest with me because I'm not sending my husband to prison for no good reason...are you SURE he isn't the Child?"

At the mention of the Child, Teddy leaned closer towards the door, curiosity rocketing as he wondered who they were talking about.

"Of course I'm sure!" Carrow-Smyth cried, sounding bordering on offended, and Tonks folded her arms firmly across her chest and said:

"Seriously, Artemis, how can you be sure? Because..."

"How can you be sure Theodore isn't the child?"

Tonks gave an impatient huff, turning to fix the wizard with a raised eyebrow.

"You have met my son, haven't you?" she said, to his clear irritation. "Not really the fire and brimstone type, is he?"

"And you're saying Elijah is?" Carrow-Smyth cried, half rising from his chair in outrage, and as the pieces finally fell into place for Teddy, Tonks reached to pull the wizard back down with a firm hand upon his elbow.

"Elijah is a very sweet boy, don't get me wrong." she said. "But after what happened...well...come on, Art, he's deeply disturbed."

Teddy reached to clamp a hand over his mouth to suppress a gasp of realization as he recalled his encountered with Carrow-Smyth's nephew in the corridor at St. Mungo's...

Do you hate them too?

Auntie Dora doesn't hate them...

That was it, the boy realised excitedly, taking a small step back from the door, fidgeting excitedly.

Elijah had been talking about werewolves. He seemed convinced that the world was out to get them, and wasn't that just what the Child would believe?

Elijah and Artemis might have been at the wedding mentioned in the Daily Prophet where the fire had broken out, they might have been related to the best man just as Teddy and his friends had theorized back in the Hogwarts library. What if Elijah had started the fire?

And Elijah's parents were dead. Who was to say that his father hadn't been a werewolf?

It was at that moment that Teddy heard creaking steps upon the landing above him, and he jumped at the sound of a hoarse voice softly calling:

"Teddy?"

Teddy spun around to find his father stood at the top of the stairs, seemingly on his way towards the bathroom. Before the boy could mumble something fitting about fetching himself a glass of water, the werewolf instructed:

"Bed."

Teddy reluctantly began a slow ascent of the stairs, and by the time he reached the top he paused to glance across the landing into the bathroom, find Remus leant before the sink, hot water rushing from the taps as he coughed violently into the rising steam, clutching the side of the basin with both hands. With a heavy sigh, the metamorphmagus wandered back to his bedroom, pushing the door shut behind him.

If Remus Lupin were entirely honest, he would have admitted that the following morning did not turn out the way that he had imagined.

He'd imagined a rather average morning, waking up reasonably early, going down to put the kettle on to make a cup of tea before retreating back to bed for a little while to talk to his wife about mundane, everyday things. After that he'd supposed he'd probably have a shower and get dressed, then he'd wake Teddy up and the three of them would have breakfast before he and Teddy headed back to Hogwarts.

But Remus' imaginings could not have been more far from reality.

When he looked back upon that bizarre and downright surreal morning, he always suspected that he should have known it was all going to be wrong from the moment he opened his eyes.

Because that had been the first strange thing that had happened that morning. When Remus had awoken and reached to rub the sleep from his eyes, he'd glanced sideways to find the bed beside him empty.

Not that Tonks being awake and up before him was particularly strange, it was just that she seemed to have an uncanny ability to stay asleep for as long as possible when she had no cause to rush off to work in the morning.

Stifling a yawn, Remus reached to throw the duvet back from around him and slowly sat up. His throat burned, he felt an overwhelming urge to cough, and as he spluttered into the palm of his hand he recalled the events of the night beforehand, how he been awoken from a dream by Tonks shaking him by the shoulder as she leant over him, calling him loudly by name.

_I was close to slapping you_, she'd informed him breathlessly, _you're wheezing something __rotten__! _

He'd sat up in bed for some ten minutes, inhaling medicine from a paper bag to try and ease the tightness in his chest, and had felt only marginally better when he'd lain back down to go to sleep.

_You worry me, you know,_ Tonks had murmured as she lay back down beside him, eying him fretfully through the darkness._ It's this bloody court business, isn't it? The healer said, didn't she, that you need to be calm, you mustn't have stress._

He'd told her somewhat croakily that she was talking nonsense, he'd probably been having a nightmare, that was all, and they'd settled down to go to sleep again, his arm hugged to her chest, only for somebody to hammer upon the front door downstairs and he'd made to get up to answer it, only for Tonks to insist he go to sleep, she'd see to it. He'd watched her hastily don slippers and attempt to locate her winter dressing gown, only to curse and snatch up the less than conservative summer one instead. As she'd pulled the distinctly flimsy garment on, he'd commented that he didn't see why she bothered wearing it, for it didn't cover much more than her nightdress already did. She'd offered him a knowing smile as she'd slipped out of the door, murmuring: _Precisely, Sweetheart._

He'd been so tired that he'd not given much thought to just how long she was gone for, and after a while his breathing seemed to worsen again and he'd decided to resort to inhaling steam in the bathroom sink because the healer had suggested it would be more effective. He'd caught Teddy out of bed, but hadn't given that much thought either, he felt much too drained, and by the time he'd stumbled back to bed he'd not really noticed that Tonks had yet to return, he was asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow.

Remus got slowly out of bed and reached to snatch up the dressing gown that he'd left draped across the old wooden chair in one corner of the bedroom. He made for the stairs as he pulled his arms through the sleeves, thinking just how wonderful steaming hot tea would be when he felt so rough. Who needed potions, he wondered as he descended the stairs, when you could stick the kettle on instead? Tea was a universal cure-all...

And that was when he'd spotted the unfamiliar black coat lying discarded upon the floor beside the front door.

It took him a moment of staring before it occurred to him that the coat was not entirely unfamiliar, and then he recalled the way that Teddy had been stood beside the living room door, and he'd wandered over to peer into the room, just as he had seen the boy do many hours previously.

And that was the next thing that was unexpected that morning.

No indeed, of all the possible things that me might have come across that morning, laying eyes upon his wife lying fast asleep upon their sofa with Artemis Carrow-Smyth had not been what Remus had expected at all.

He stared.

His first thought was that he ought feel completely mortified, or furious, or at least angry enough to throw the door wide open with enough force to make it bang against the wall and startle the pair wide awake.

But his second thought was that really, he didn't feel like that at all. In actual fact, Remus wasn't entirely sure how he did feel, indeed the whole scene seemed somewhat difficult to comprehend...it was...unsettling...

_This may not be the most desirable scene you've ever laid eyes upon, but there's probably a perfectly logical and reasonable explanation for it_, the voice in the back of his head announced firmly, and Remus supposed he ought agree with it, but...

But what in Merlin's name was this supposed to be? It was just...

Upsetting, perhaps, because it didn't do much for his imagination, if truth be told. Not that he suspected that he had just stumbled across some sort of elicit affair that was about to end his marriage, he trusted his wife, after all...

He just didn't trust Carrow-Smyth. Knowing what Tonks and the others he knew from the Ministry had to say about him did not cast him in a trustworthy light. Not even a dim one.

He wondered where that left him, if he trusted Tonks entirely and Carrow-Smyth not at all. Did that mean together he trusted them a little bit? Or did it mean that one lot of trust or lack of it could cancel out the other? Or was that just stupid? It was stupid, it was illogical...

It wasn't as dire as it looked, he was sure, but he had no idea what else it could possibly be.

So then what? What did he...do? Think? Conclude...?

Remus' mind boggled. The only conclusion that he could manage was not a very helpful one:

_Tea. _

He went and put the kettle on.

He was just splashing milk into three cups, wondering if he was supposed to make an extra one for his apparent guest and musing how downright stupid that sounded when he thought about it like that, when he heard a whispered voice from the kitchen doorway.

"Dad...?"

"Morning Ted." he said, milking another cup despite himself. "What do you want for breakfast?"

There was a long pause before Teddy told him:

"Mum and Carrow-Smyth are asleep together on the sofa."

"Mm, I had noticed."

There was another pause before Teddy took a few steps into the kitchen, bare feet slapping against the tiles.

"Why?" the boy asked, sounding about as confused as Remus felt, and the werewolf told him:

"Because I looked through the gap in the door just now and saw them."

"No, I mean...why are they...like that?"

"I expect they were tired talking and just...fell asleep." Remus decided, and it seemed reasonable enough, he supposed. If it was good enough to pass off as truth to Teddy, it would be good enough for him, for now.

More silence.

"You don't think..." Teddy began apprehensively, shifting his feet and chewing rather nervously upon his lip, "you don't think...like...they were...kissing again, do you?"

"Of course they weren't." Remus said, at last entirely sure of something. He could be sure of that fact, he trusted Tonks, she wouldn't dream of it, if anything of the sort had occurred he'd have probably woken up to a note explaining how she'd been taken off to the Ministry to be charged for assault, for real this time...

_I wonder who fell asleep first...because if it was Dora..._

_Oh Merlin, don't..._

"Why don't you go and get dressed and I'll make you something to eat?"

Remus was glad when Teddy traipsed back upstairs and left him to be confused in peace. He decided that he'd just have to wait for Tonks to wake up and explain everything...he wouldn't go and wake them himself, that would probably cause a scene of one kind or another.

But when his wife finally made an appearance some ten minutes later, shuffled gingerly into the room as she reached to smooth her disheveled hair with little success, quite possibly the most unexpected thing of all happened.

It had started off rather as Remus had expected. He'd mumbled a vague good morning and handed her a cup of tea and she'd gone and perched upon a chair at the table and announced in a deadly serious tone:

"We need to talk."

He'd gone to take a seat opposite her and waited to hear some sort of embarrassed confession about whatever it was that he'd come across in the living room, but instead she had set her mug firmly down upon the table, folded her hands in a oddly business-like fashion in front of her, and asked him:

"How would you feel about spending a couple of days in Azkaban for me?"


	22. Flames

_Note: This should be over in about 2 chapters or so! It is almost certainly the last story in the Blood 'ficverse, unless somebody twists my arm. A lot!_

_Thanks to my reviewers! You make me smile!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**22: Flames**

When she had awoken that morning, for the briefest of moments, Tonks had wanted to giggle. Falling asleep on the sofa together usually meant that she and Remus had drunk a bit too much wine, or that they'd been a little too enthusiastic about having the house to themselves whilst Teddy was at school, or even that they didn't have the house to themselves but had decided to throw all caution to the wind and pretend otherwise. She was just wondering what time it was and how long they had before Teddy bounded down the stairs in search of breakfast, when she finally bothered to open her eyes...

_Shit!_

The Auror froze, staring in horror at the arm that was draped around her middle.

_Oh sweet Merlin, what the bloody hell...? _

_Alright, just...just...let's not cause a scene, let's just...slowly, slowly..._

Teeth gritted in concentration, she reached to carefully take hold of Artemis' wrist, before gently lifting it from around her, only to drop it in surprise when a voice in her ear mumbled:

"Morning, Sweetheart."

She wanted to tell him to hush, but before she could berate him he reached to pat her comfortingly on the shoulder and told her:

"Relax, Dora."

At this suggestion, Tonks snapped.  
"RELAX?" she cried, throwing his arm from around her and sitting up abruptly, narrowly avoiding toppling straight off of the sofa and onto the floor. "Are you bloody MAD? Remus could come downstairs at any second and...and we're...we're lying here...!"

"We've done nothing wrong." Artemis pointed out, sounding infuriatingly calm, and had she known the whereabouts of her wand, she might have hexed him there and then.

"Yes we have!"

"No we haven't, we fell asleep, that's all. It's not like we had sex, is it? Trust me, you'd know about it if we had..." When she looked utterly revolted by this final comment, he simply smiled at her and said: "Sorry, I'm in a good mood. It was...nice sleeping with you...not...not like that, obviously..." he trailed off into silence, deciding that it was probably best to sit up too, and she got hurriedly to her feet and set about straightening her dressing gown, expression distinctly agitated. "I wouldn't worry." he told her, smirking despite himself. "Remus won't mind."

Tonks couldn't help but feel that Remus would mind a great deal, but she didn't suppose it would be very helpful to point this out.

"When did I fall asleep?" she demanded to know, folding her arms firmly across her chest and fixing him with the firmest look she could muster.

"Quite early on." he recalled, smiling infuriatingly. "When we were talking about the Duelling Championship."

"And?"

"And...then I fell asleep too?"

There was a long silence as she scrutinized his face, only to conclude that she had no idea whether or not he was telling the truth.

_Bugger..._

"Fine," she muttered, swallowing the panicked lump in her throat. "I'm...I'm going to go and get some breakfast. You should...leave. Now."

"Of course." he agreed, sounding unnaturally gracious, and she hated that it made her feel nervous.

"And it didn't mean anything." she added, nodding her head resolutely. "Like you said, we just fell asleep."

"Right." he nodded back in a distinctly patronizing manner, but she ignored him.

"Go on then. Get out of my house."

It was worrying that he appeared to have a spring in his step as he got obediently to his feet and headed for the front door. She trailed after him and watched him pick up his discarded coat, shaking the creases from it and pulling it around his shoulders.

"By the way," he said as she opened the door for him in an attempt to get him out of the house a few seconds faster. "Next time you fancy a slumber party, try actual pyjamas, won't you? Because whatever those few bits of material are masquerading as..." he sucked in a deep, slow breath, eying her up and down before she insisted:

"Get out, Art."

Once she had shut the door firmly behind him, Tonks turned to lean back against the door, eyes drifting closed as she drew in a series of deep, calming breaths.

Sweet Merlin, what if Remus had seen them?

He couldn't have done, if he'd opened the door she would have woken up...

She was going to have to tell him, either way. She couldn't lie to him, that much she knew...

But not now. She couldn't tell him now, she just couldn't bear the thought of it...

And so she straightened up, dusted a spec of non existent dirt from her dressing gown, and shuffled towards the kitchen to talk about something else instead.

Remus simply stared. It took a long moment for his mind to process the question that had just been directed at him, and he gaped at the witch sat opposite him for a full minute before managing:

"What...?"

"I know how this must sound," Tonks said, though Remus was pretty sure that she had no idea how it sounded because she seemed entirely unconcerned by the absurdness of her request, "but...but Artemis needs a favour."

Remus felt himself pale.

He wanted to ask if this was all some sort of joke, because if it was he didn't find it even remotely funny, but he didn't think Tonks would understand what he meant by it, she looked much too serious. If he were honest, he would have to admit that he found the whole scenario deeply insulting, and he failed to suppress the urge to inform her:

"Actually, I'd much rather discuss why Artemis thinks he can attempt to get my family torn apart, lie about me to the Wizengamot, show up and cause a scene in front of my students at Hogwarts, then turn up at my house at Merlin knows what hour and spend an entire night asleep with my wife upon my sofa, and then expect me to do him a favour."

There was a long, pained silence and he felt only marginally guilty for being so blunt when Tonks reached to bury her face in her hands. He didn't think that he was going to get much of a response, in fact she might well have started to cry, but he leant back in his chair and waited anyway.

"Nothing happened." she finally whispered into the palms of her hands, and she seemed to realise that this didn't sound very convincing, so she dropped her hands down upon the table and fixed him with an almost challenging look. "Nothing happened, we were just sleeping, and that's the truth. You...you don't need to let it bother you."

Remus waited to feel relieved, or for the anger to dull, but for some reason it just wouldn't go away. He tried to tell himself that if he couldn't squash the fury he should probably leave the room before he said something he was sure to regret. But he couldn't seem to move a muscle, he still felt much too confused and insulted to successfully reason with himself.

"What is it about you falling asleep curled up on our sofa with somebody else that you think I shouldn't be bothered about?" he asked, and she pursed her lips together, gaze falling to her lap. She fidgeted for a moment, one hand sliding rather hopefully across the table towards him, but he ignored it.

"I've made a stupid mistake, Remus. I...I know I have, and I know what it looks like...I know, but...he...well he was upset..."

"In which case a cup of tea would probably have sufficed. I seriously doubt you needed to sleep with him..."

"Don't say...that."

"That's what you did though, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but...not...not like _that_."

"Who fell asleep first?"

"What?"

"I said who fell asleep first?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"A whole lot."

"Why? I don't see why it matters."

"It matters."

"It does?"  
"Yes. A lot."

Silence.

"It was you, wasn't it? You fell asleep before he did..."

"So what? Why, what d'you think happened?"

Silence.

"Don't try and over analyse everything, Remus, it's bloody painful..."

"Don't try and tell me how to react to you sleeping with Carrow-Smyth."

"Don't say it like that."

"Again, that's what you did though, isn't it?"

"Yes but...sweet Merlin...!"

"You have absolutely no right to sound so offended, Dora..."

"I'm not bloody offended, Remus, I'm...I'm...!"

"You're what?"

"ASHAMED!"

Outside of the room, Teddy paused midway through reaching for the door handle, jumping a little at the sound of his mother's raised voice before he heard fists slamming down upon the kitchen table and he heard her shout:

"THERE! I SAID IT! I'M ASHAMED! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?"

Teddy immediately turned to flee back up the stairs, heart hammering in his chest, whilst back inside the room, Remus did not so much as flinch.

"Not particularly, no." he told the red faced witch across the table, and she slumped forwards, forehead coming to rest upon the wooden tabletop.

"I...I've never...I've never done anything more stupid in my whole...l...life!" she sobbed, and at last he felt the anger begin to slowly seep away from his insides. "I just...he was hysterical, I mean completely hysterical and...and I sat him down and we talked about...about what to do and...and then he mentioned the bloody broom cupboard incident again and I...well I told him why I really did it and he freaked out! He sobbed his eyes out, he said I didn't give a damn about him and I wasn't going to help him...and...and I felt awful so I...I don't know! We ended up talking and talking and talking and I was so tired...I just fell asleep! I don't remember lying down...as if I'd do that! And then I just woke up and there we were...!"

Remus couldn't seem to help but let out a heavy sigh, which seemed to upset her further and he once again wished that he could take his own advice and just walk away.

Or just forgive her, tell her it was all fine, that he understood...

Except he still wasn't sure that he understood. At all.

It wasn't that he thought she was lying, it wasn't that he didn't trust her, indeed he trusted her beyond reason. That much was clear, after all reason was rather stacked up against her here and yet the notion of an affair had still not really occurred to him as a viable explanation.

But that was what made the whole scenario so deeply confusing. If it looked like cheating, sounded like cheating and probably smelt like cheating...whatever that smelt like, he didn't care to wonder because that would be just another bizarre and difficult question to muse upon...if everything pointed towards cheating of some kind and yet he resolutely believed that it was something else entirely...

Well then...what the bloody hell was it?

He had briefly considered labeling it as a Misunderstanding, but really that hadn't felt very satisfying at all. Because if it was a misunderstanding, he'd expect Tonks to use words like embarrassed, cringe-worthy, awkward...

Not ashamed. Reasonable people didn't get ashamed by simple misunderstandings. After all, people make silly mistakes, they can be embarrassed about them, but not ashamed.

Because with shame comes guilt.

But he'd already decided that Tonks wasn't guilty...

It wasn't a misunderstanding.

He'd tried to shrug it off as just one of those things...but it wasn't just one of those things at all because the sight of the pair snuggled up upon the sofa had done something rather horrible to his insides, and he felt sickly and a little weak-kneed. And the feeling had yet to pass. At first he'd put it down to confusion, uncertainty, and he'd ignored it because he'd been sure that it would go away once he and Tonks had sat down to talk...like it had done before when Teddy had appeared in his office to announce that Carrow-Smyth had kissed Tonks at St. Mungo's...only it didn't. It got worse. Every time she spoke, every time she looked at him...

Every time he looked at her...

Looking at her wasn't supposed to make him feel like that. That was one thing he knew for sure. The other thing he knew for sure was that there was no chance in Hell that he would help Carrow-Smyth in any capacity whatsoever. Because it was entirely his fault. His fault that Remus was sat having this argument or whatever precisely it was in the first place, his fault that Remus could hardly bear to look his own wife in the eye, his fault it was all so painful, like a great weight on his chest, like Remus was suffocating...

_Suffocating_...

_Oh Merlin..._

"Look," Tonks began to babble, voice an couple of octaves higher than usual as she staring into her lap, "I know...I know this is difficult, but..."

_Breathe..._

"...but I swear, you have to believe me Remus, I'd never, NEVER do anything to hurt you or...or us..."

_Don't cough. Just breathe..._

"And I know what...what you think of Artemis, I...I know, I understand, but I'm sure he wouldn't...well...you know..."

_Breathe..._

"...it's all completely stupid and...and silly, isn't it? I mean...come on, have...have you looked at Artemis recently? He's...he's bloody hideous..."

_Can't breathe...can't breathe..._

"He's a bastard. Not...not that I'm entirely blameless, I...I know..."

"Dora..."

"No, no! Let me...let me speak! I know what your like, love, you'll just tell me it wasn't anything to do with me, but...but well I DID fall asleep..."

"Dora..."

"...and that was very stupid of me. I understand why you're angry..."

"D...Dora...I..."

"That's okay, that's understandable. I'm just asking you not to...not to blow this all out of proportion, I don't want us to have a fight, I hate it when we fight. This isn't really any different from before, don't you think you can forgive me for being stupid?"

"I...can't..."

"You...can't?" At last, Tonks' gaze snapped up to look at him, instantly agitated. "But...but it was a silly mistake! I just told you...! Artemis is a bastard, like I said, he...he means nothing to me, you know he doesn't!"

"No...I..."

"You don't? But what about what you said before? After the hospital? You said you weren't worried, you said you knew I didn't love him! How can you just...change your mind? You can't change your mind, this isn't any different than back then! I swear, Remus I...I...!"

"Dora I...can't...breathe."

At long last, Tonks stopped babbling.

"What?" she asked, reaching to swipe tears from her eyes, but Remus' only response was to slump forward, reaching to rest his forehead upon the table in front of him.

Then he started to cough.

Meanwhile, upstairs Teddy was sitting upon the window sill of the spare bedroom, staring miserably out of the window, attempting to make sense of the world. Before he could come to any real conclusion, however, he heard a soft popping noise and two figures appeared just outside of the Lupins' front garden, and at the sight of them, Teddy's stomach clenched in panic. He watched, heart thumping in his chest as Artemis Carrow-Smyth led Elijah down the path towards the front door. The young Gryffindor reached to clutch at his hair in agitation.

"Not now!" he complained as they came to a halt before the door, and he heard the knocker tapping impatiently.

"TEDDY?" the boy heard his mother bellow from the kitchen downstairs, and so he reluctantly got to his feet and went to open the door.

Carrow-Smyth practically pushed his way inside as soon as Teddy reached to open the door, pulling a pale, blank faced Elijah after him.

"Where's your mum?" the wizard demanded as Teddy reached to gingerly shut the door behind him.

Teddy drew in a deep breath in an attempt to squash the overbearing desire that he felt to be incredibly rude, instead mumbling:

"She and Dad are in the kitchen, but..."

Carrow-Smyth was already striding across the hallway, and before Teddy could protest he had reached to fling the kitchen door wide open.

And Teddy's eyes widened in horror as he watched his mother look up from her position knelt upon the cold tiled floor, his father's head cradled in her lap, seemingly choking on thin air.

"We're running out of time!" Carrow-Smyth announced impatiently, as if oblivious to the alarming scene that he had just burst in on. "We have to act now, Dora, the Ministry are getting suspicious..."

"Act now?" Tonks shrieked, mousy hair streaked suddenly scarlet. "Can't you see I'm a bit bloody busy, Artemis?" She yanked the cork free of the small glass bottle she was holding, sending a puff of silvery dust up into the air, before hastily instructing: "Bag, Ted!"

Teddy immediately leapt into action, pushing past a daydreaming Elijah and making a beeline for the nearest kitchen cupboard.

Carrow-Smyth's gaze at last came to rest upon the collapsed werewolf on the floor, and he frowned a little as he asked:

"Is he alright?"

"Does he bloody LOOK alright to you?" Tonks asked furiously, glowering up at him with bloodshot, watery eyes. "Just get out, will you? This is all your bloody fault..."

"We can't." Carrow-Smyth informed her dully. "The Ministry showed up at Mungo's looking for Elijah. We've run out of time, there's no point sending Remus to Azkaban to try to stall them, they're already convinced Elijah's the Child..."

"I don't care." Tonks said bluntly, snatching the bag that Teddy offered her and pouring a generous amount of dust inside. "I can't help you, I've got Remus to worry about. Your on your own, Art."

"Dora, please..."

"I said I can't help you!" she paused in her arranging of the paper bag to look up at the wizard with such a hateful look that it made Teddy flinch. "Now get out! You've done enough damage already!" And with that she turned her attention back to her husband, reaching to raise his head and press the bag's opening to his mouth, furiously attempting to blink back tears as he spluttered into the paper.

Teddy leant back against the kitchen counter, lips pursed tightly together in worry as he observed his parents upon the floor, only to look back towards Carrow-Smyth when a voice called:

"Auntie Dora!"

Elijah's eyes had at last at last seemed to focus upon something, and he wandered forwards, as if in a daze towards the couple, slowly taking in the scene before before his uncle reached to put a firm hand upon his shoulder.

"Not now, Elijah..." Carrow-Smyth mumbled, and Teddy turned to see the wizard staring at his parents, expression suddenly pained.

"That's it," Tonks whispered as at last Remus managed to draw in a deep, shuddering breath. "That's it, keep breathing, you're going to be fine..."

"Auntie Dora doesn't hate them." Elijah announced, and his uncle took a few steps forward, one arm around the boy's shoulders.

"No, Elijah," he said, voice suddenly unnaturally soft. "She certainly doesn't, she's married to one."

Tonks glanced up at them again, suddenly calmer as Remus' coughing subsided to a series of muffled wheezes, and Carrow-Smyth murmured:

"I had no idea he was this sick."

"Yeah, well...maybe if you'd stop and listen to me for once in your life..." Tonks muttered, trailing off for a moment and sighing heavily. "And he would have done it, you know. He'd have gone to Azkaban. He might not have done it for you, but I'd bet he'd do it for Elijah if he knew what I do! And look at us, Artemis. Look how we've behaved!"

And Teddy was shocked to see that Carrow-Smyth looked genuinely ashamed of himself.

"Then he's a better man than me." he mumbled, and Tonks reached to swipe at her eyes again with a sniff before agreeing:

"Yes, he is."

It was then that Teddy noticed Elijah had stepped free of Carrow-Smyth's hold and had dropped to his knees beside the werewolf, and he reached to lay a hand upon Remus' arm before looking up at Tonks and observing:

"He is sick."

"Yes, Elijah, he is." the witch agreed, reaching to sweep the hair back from Remus' forehead as he gave another splutter.

"He's one of them."

"That's right."

The boy stared down at Remus for a long moment, apparantly thinking very hard, before he turned to gaze up at his uncle with the same wide, blank eyes.

"You did this?" he whispered, and when Carrow-Smyth failed to answer immediately he tried again: "You did this to him? You made him sick?"

Carrow-Smyth shook his head as Tonks mumbled:

"Not...not exactly, Elijah love..."

"No, Elijah. No, I...I didn't make him sick, that's not what Auntie Dora meant..."

"You made him sick."

"No Elijah, you see..."

"You did this to him."

"Listen to me, Elijah..."

"You hate them too!"

Silence descended upon the kitchen like a dense fog, and even Remus seemed to pause in his wheezing as Elijah rose shakily to his feet, eyes brimming with sudden tears as he reached to point an accusing finger at Carrow-Smyth's chest.

"You hate them!" the boy accused, his faraway, soft voice sudden fierce. "YOU HATE THEM!"

"Of course I don't, Elijah. You know I don't, you know I...I cared for your father very much, I didn't hate him and I don't hate any of them, not at all..."

"LIAR!" the boy shrieked, free hand balling into a tight fist, and despite himself Teddy shuffled back to press himself firmly against the wall in alarm.

"Elijah," Tonks called clearly, pausing with one hand tangled in Remus' hair as she stared up at the boy with unnervingly worried eyes. "Listen to Uncle Artemis..."

"YOU ALL HATE THEM!" Elijah screeched, and before anybody could mumble another word of protest, there came a sudden bang and the entire kitchen was filled with light...

As he instinctively reached to clamp his hands to his face, Teddy felt a sudden rush of heat as if he were stood much too close to a fire.

And when he dared open his eyes and peer out through the gaps between his fingers half a second later, he discovered that that was the exact truth.

Because the kitchen had suddenly become engulfed in a mass of roaring emerald flame.


	23. Escape

_Note: Is this chapter a bit short? Yes. Sorry about that! It's full of action though, so...forgive me? =)_

_Thanks for all the enthusiastic reviews! I had no idea that there would be so much arm twisting going on! So...just because some of you have twisted my arm quite a lot, I promise to write about Blood 'fic story! I just don't have any idea when...probably not for a long while! I need to finish Meet the Marauders, which is really only just beginning, and Snatch and Grab, which is probably only about halfway through, if that. Oh...and since I was bored I started to write the opening for a 4th "Meet the..." 'fic! Not that I will post it until I've finished Meet the Marauders, of course, but I already have a plot figured out...better just hope people are still reading by then!_

_Anyway, if I keep on rambling this note is going to be as long as the chapter, so I better stop now. I hope you enjoy reading!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**23: Escape**

The smoke was overwhelming.

Teddy ducked his head against the sudden heat before him, clamping a hand to his mouth as he spluttered into his hand, desperately attempting to not to panic, to stay calm, to think...move...anything...

"GET OUT!" a furious voice demanded as the boy pressed himself further back against the wall, "Get out, get out!"

Teddy wasn't entirely sure that he quite knew which way out was...or even how his legs would take him there.

"Teddy!"

As he felt his mother's fingers enclosing around his wrist, yanking him sideways towards the nearest exit, Teddy heard his heart begin to pound furiously in his chest, and it did not stop when Tonks bundled both he and Elijah through the door into the living room.

"Take Elijah and go outside!" he heard his mother demand, and he blinked a few times to clear his mind, eyes coming to rest upon the smoke filled doorway in which Tonks stood, just in time to watch her turn and make to dash back into the blaze.

Only for Carrow-Smyth to catch her by the shoulders and give her a firm push backwards.

"Take the boys and get out!" the Slytherin demanded, grip upon her tightening when she attempted to push her way past him.

"Great plan, Art!" the Hufflepuff snapped, pausing to cough into her sleeve. "I'll just...just leave Remus to die, shall I?"

"I've got him!" Carrow-Smyth insisted hurriedly, but this did not appear to reassure her in the slightest.

"No, you haven't..."

"Trust me, Dora."

"Let me go!"

"I need you to trust me, Dora, I'll get him out just...take the boys and we'll follow you..."

"But..."

"Trust me!"

For a startling moment, Teddy watched the two adults freeze, staring at one another so intently that it was almost as though they had forgotten the urgency of the situation that they had been thrown into, and then, to the boy's horror, Tonks turned her back on the doorway and dashed across the room towards the hallway, reaching to drag both Teddy and a quietly sobbing Elijah after her.

"Come on, Ted..."

"But...Dad!"

"It's alright, Ted, just...just come on..."

It didn't seem to matter how much he shouted or pleaded, Teddy still found himself ushered into the hallway, where they were greeted by yet more smoke trickling out from underneath the kitchen doorway, and before he knew it he was stumbling out into the front garden, bright morning sunshine dazzling his watery eyes. Once the fleeing trio had reached the end of the garden path, they turned to stare back at the house.

And there they waited.

Teddy watched the steady stream of smoke seeping out of the open kitchen window, drifting slowly up towards the clouds above them until he could hardly tell where smoke ended and cloud began.

He couldn't help but notice that Artemis and Remus had yet to follow them.

"Mum..."

"It's...it's alright, Sweetheart, it's just...just give them a minute..."

Silence.

"Mum...!"

"Just a minute, Teddy. I promise..."

More silence.

Elijah turned to bury his face in Tonks' side, but she made no move to comfort him. Instead she stood stock still, lips pursed pleadingly together as she stared at the house.

"Mum!" Teddy cried again, reaching to clasp a fistful of his t shirt in alarm, and when she failed to say anything he demanded: "DO SOMETHING!"

"Come on, Artemis, don't fail me..." he heard the Auror whisper through clenched teeth, and he was about to shriek at her again when all of a sudden a bright jet of light smashed through the kitchen's largest window, shattering the glass with an almighty crash. Elijah gave a soft whimper at the sudden noise and as smoke billowed out into the morning air there came another series of crashes before a large dark shape appeared at the window.

And with that, Artemis Carrow-Smyth strained to haul Teddy's father up onto the kitchen counter top, before attempting to shove him unceremoniously through the smashed window.

"Don't move!" Tonks instructed sternly, and with that she dashed across the grass, leaving Teddy to wince in anticipation of bare feet upon broken shards. She reached to throw her arms around Remus' middle, and with a firm shove from Carrow-Smyth, she stumbled backwards, dragging the werewolf out of the house, at which point she promptly lost her balance and Teddy watched his parents collapse upon the grass, the air knocked from the witch's lungs as Remus landed bodily atop of her with a spluttered groan.

And Teddy felt such relief flood over him as his mother threw her arms more tightly around his father, hugging him fiercely with a gasp of triumph, that he ignored her instructions and ran forwards to join them.

He came to a stumbling halt beside them, and had barely glanced down at them before it suddenly occurred to him that the danger had not truly passed.

Because Carrow-Smyth was still inside the house.

"Dora!" Teddy heard the man choke, and the boy shuddered to see a hand reaching to grasp hold of the window frame, grip shaky, feeble...

But Tonks didn't seem to hear the plea, for she was much too busy burying her face in Remus' shoulder, sobbing with relief, and as Teddy watched Carrow-Smyth's grip upon the frame slacken, he felt an overwhelming sense of dread assault his insides.

And so he did the first thing that came into his head.

The young Gryffindor took a few steps backwards, before making a run for the window, slamming his hands down upon the window frame, wincing at jagged glass cutting into his palms as he vaulted upwards, leaning into the smoke filled room in search of his father's rescuer.

"A...Artemis!" he managed to choke, squinting frantically through the thick smoke, his face flushed with sudden heat from the fire. "Artemis!"

At the sound of Teddy's voice, Tonks was brought back to reality with a jolt of panic at the sight of her son midway through climbing back into the inferno.

"TED!" she shrieked as Remus managed to roll off of her, his eyes widening in shock as he too caught sight of what Teddy was doing. "GET DOWN!"

"I've nearly got him!" Teddy shouted, and it was true, for from his place sprawled upon the floor, Artemis was desperately attempting to reach out and grab the boy by the hand.

As she scrambled to her feet, Tonks shoved her hand into her pocket, only to find that she had left her wand inside.

"Remus!" she shouted, rounding on the spluttering werewolf who was attempting to haul himself up into a sitting position. "Wand!"

Remus paused in his fidgeting to fumble around and extract his wand from his own pocket, and his wife promptly snatched it from him and made a run for the window, leaving him to attempt to stumble to his feet, teeth gritted against yet more coughing.

She was just reaching to grab hold of the back of Teddy's t-shirt and yank him backwards away from danger when the boy finally succeeded in grabbing hold of Carrow-Smyth by the hand.

Only to have leant just a little too far to keep his balance, and with that, Teddy tumbled through the window and disappeared through the smoke.

With a panicked swipe of Remus' wand, Tonks sent an enormous jet of water shooting through the window, dousing the flames that were nearing the escape route until they had retreated back towards the hallway door. And with that, like Teddy before her, Tonks vaulted up onto the window ledge and leant forward, hand groping desperately around in the smoke for somebody to grab onto.

It was at that moment that she spotted the kitchen cupboards upon the wall opposite that were very nearly off their hinges, and she felt her stomach give a jolt at the thought of them crashing down upon Teddy and Carrow-Smyth below. The thought made her dare to lean closer, yet her fingertips met nothing but smoky air. Hand still reaching, she send another jet of water spurting out at the flames, only to hear the hinges of the scorched cupboards give an ominous creak...

And then, quite suddenly, everything seemed to happen at once.

The first thing she felt was Remus' arms locking around her waist, no doubt ready to pull backwards when the time came.

And then she felt two hands grabbing hold of her by the arm, just as the cupboard's bottom hinge gave way, leaving the cupboard to swing wildly off of the wall. Heart hammering in her chest, it suddenly occurred to Tonks that she had mere seconds to drag either Carrow-Smyth or Teddy out of harm's way before the cupboard collapsed.

She just wasn't strong enough to help them both.

Tonks tried to squint down at the hands that were grasping desperately at her, but it was impossible to tell them apart, and she was pretty sure that she didn't have time to debate her options so she pulled her arm free from the hands and reached to grab hold of the one closest to her.

"NOW!" she shouted, gripping onto the hand with all her might, and with that she and Remus pulled backwards, just as the second hinge gave way and the cupboard fell from the wall with a crash. Before Tonks could get a proper glimpse of who she was pulling to safety, Remus lost his footing and the pair of them fell backwards again, landing upon the grass with a hefty thud.

And yet Tonks barely noticed the dull ache that blossomed up her spine, for she was much too busy staring with bated breath at the figure who was tumbling out of the window after them...


	24. Debt

_Note: There are spoilers for Without a Trace in this chapter. Consider yourselves warned!_

_Sorry for the slow updates of my stories recently, I am very busy with University work and also decided to start a new fic, which will eventually be posted as the 4th "Meet the..." story. I felt like writing romance between two characters who I won't mention but who you can probably guess (if you've been reading the other stories, that is!) I COULD post it now, but I suppose that would rather ruin Meet the Marauders..._

_Anyway, back to the fics that people are actually waiting for!_

_Oh, and thank you for so many reviews! No, I will not apologize for the cliffhanger...I never do, why break the habit of a lifetime? =)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I'm not making any profit from this, either._

**24: Debt**

When he tumbled head first out of the window and down onto the glass littered lawn after his parents, Teddy Lupin had felt immense relief that he hadn't managed to break his neck, nor knock himself unconscious.

But under a minute later, the young Gryffindor found himself wishing that he had done precisely that. Because what he witnessed next made his insides twist into knots and his heart hammer in his chest, and he wanted nothing more than to clamp his hands over his ears, screw his eyes shut and wish for the nightmare to end.

Yet again his parents scrambled back to their feet, Tonks pausing to reach and help the boy up onto his feet, and when she turned her attention back to the window the Auror found her husband stood staring through the shattered window, stock still and shoulders hunched.

"Oh...oh Merlin..." Teddy heard Remus stammer, one hand reaching to cover his mouth in horror.

"ARTEMIS!" Tonks shouted, making another run for the window. "Remus, DO SOMETHING!"

But Remus only turned to throw his arms around his wife as she skidded to a halt beside him, forcibly reaching to push her face into his shoulder, grip iron-like as Teddy heard him murmur:

"Don't look, Dora. For the love of Merlin, don't look..."

"W...what...what's...?"

"He's...he's...just don't look."

Teddy numbly watched his mother's feeble attempts to get free of his father's grasp as realization began to sink in, and Teddy couldn't help himself, he started to sob.

"No, no, no..." he heard Tonks complain, hands beating feebly against the werewolf's chest. "I...I don't...I don't believe you...let...let me...let me see!"

"Darling he's...he's..."

"N...no he isn't! He...he isn't, I don't believe you..."

"Come on let's...let's come away..."  
"No..."

"Come on, this way..."

"I don't believe you..."

"Listen to me, Dora, I...I need you to...to give me my wand back so I can...so I can send for help...okay? Where is it?"

"You're wrong, you are, I know it..."

"Dora, where is it? Where's my wand?"

"J...just...just let go, I...I need to...to see..."

"Our house is going to burn to the ground, Dora. For the love of Merlin, give me back my wand..."

"I...I don't care...I don't care if it burns..."

"Well I do. Please give me back my wand."

The feeble struggling stopped, and Teddy watched Remus' grip slacked a little uncertainly as Tonks froze, staring up at him with wide, watery eyes.

"What is WRONG with you?" the mousy haired witch abruptly shrieked, causing Teddy to jump. "You...you tell me...you tell me Artemis is...is DEAD! You...you reckon he's been crushed! And...and all you're worried about is...is the bloody HOUSE!"

And with that, to both Remus and Teddy's horror, she wrenched herself free of the werewolf's grasp, snatched his wand out from her pocket, holding it aloft as she declared:

"SOD THE BLOODY HOUSE!"

And with that, she turned and threw the wand at the fire, before collapsing to her knees, sobbing hysterically.

Remus stood, staring with dazed, mortified eyes, and Teddy shuddered to think what he had glimpsed through the smoke that was billowing out of the window. Teddy shuffled over to his father's side, eying his mother despairingly before reaching into his pocket and drawing out his own wand. He offered it to Remus in silence.

It was a long moment before Remus noticed the offering, and once he had reached to take hold of the wand, gripping it resolutely, he merely stood stock still for another moment, as if he had been stunned. Teddy watched solemnly as the werewolf gave the wand a vague wave, screwing his eyes shut and taking a deep breath when nothing seemed to happen. The sight made Teddy's chest clench, as if a great weight had been dropped upon it. He could not recall ever seeing his father struggle with magic in such a way before, except for the horrible incident in the Defense classroom when somebody had slipped poison into his coffee, and Teddy glanced over at the window, dread seizing him again at the thought of what Remus had seen.

"Expecto...ex...expecto..."

"Come on, Dad!" Teddy pleaded, rounding on his father again to see him pause to take another deep breath.

"Expecto Patronum!" Remus finally declared, giving the wand a definite flick, and an enormous silver figure erupted from the wand tip, streaking off up the street and into the distance. The silver light was dazzling, and Teddy screwed his eyes shut against the sudden brightness, only to jump a little to feel a hand under his chin, reaching to tilt his head back. He opened his eyes to find Remus staring down at him with scrutinizing eyes, a deep frown creasing his ashen brow.

"I'm alright, Dad." Teddy mumbled as his father took a step backwards to run a critical eye over the rest of him. "Just a few cuts and bruises."

"Hands, Ted." the werewolf instructed grimly, and the boy obediently presented his scratched and bloody palms.

Remus pursed his lips together in consideration, pausing to cough into his sleeve before deciding:

"You'll live. Go and stand back with Elijah, it's not safe here."

And so it was that Teddy Lupin retreated to the pavement, and watched his home burn.

He was joined a few minutes later by his parents, Remus having managed to persuade Tonks back onto her feet just long enough for them to stumble off of the front lawn, and there the two adults sunk to the ground in an odd tangle of limbs to join the observation.

There was silence for many long minutes, broken only by the menacing crackling of flames, disturbed occasionally by an alarming crash or two, before they were relieved to hear the sound of pounding footsteps from up the road, and the three Lupins turned to see a cluster of people dressed in striking blue robes sprinting up the road towards them.

At the sight of them, Tonks suddenly sobered.

"Remus," Teddy heard her murmur as the werewolf disentangled his arms from around her and slowly heaved himself onto his feet, stifling another splutter into his sleeve. "We need to hide Elijah."

"What...?" Remus said, stumbling a little when she reached to grasp hold of his arm in order to pull herself upwards, watery gaze upon him surprisingly stern.

"Elijah!" she hissed hurriedly, pausing to glance up the road at the approaching people before turning back to her husband with an almost accusing look. "Hide him!"

Remus' expression was distinctly bewildered.

"But...Dora..."

"For the love of Merlin!" Tonks shrieked, hysteria creeping back into her voice as she reached to grasp fistfuls of his jumper and give him a small shake. "Do I have to bloody spell it out to you?"

"I think so." her husband admitted, and for a moment Teddy was convinced that she would hit him. But instead she gave him a small push backwards as she reached to grab hold of a still-dazed Elijah by the arm, pulling him forward so that she could plant him directly in front of Remus, declaring:

"Artemis lied to me! HE'S THE BLOODY CHILD!"

"Yes...I can see that." Remus told her, apparently unconcerned.

"They'll lock him up!" Tonks elaborated, eyes wide in horror at the thought, but again Remus didn't appear concerned.

"In St. Mungo's, yes. Which is a perfectly sound idea, he's...troubled..."

"His uncle's DEAD!"

"Dora..."

"I...I'm not having him...shut away in some hospital ward! He's...he's suffered enough!"

Remus' eyes widened, and Teddy watched him take a small step backwards, shaking his head.

"No...no, Dora, we're not...we can't...absolutely not..."

"If anybody's going to get through to him it's YOU, Remus, he likes you, he likes werewolves..."

"For the love of Merlin, Dora! He doesn't need a werewolf, he needs a PSYCHOLOGIST and...and medicine!"

"Yeah, that's right, isn't it? Because they've done such a sparkling job in the past, haven't they? Look at him, Remus! LOOK!" Tonks gave Elijah a small push forwards, and it was then that Teddy realized that the glazed look in the boy's eyes had become focused, fixated upon the wizard stood before him.

Werewolf and boy stared at one another as behind them, the Ministry wizards neared the blaze, already beginning to shout instructions to one another, their wands drawn.

Elijah smiled.

"Artemis died for us." Tonks reminded her husband with a sniff. "He didn't do a runner, he dragged you out of that fire and...and he didn't get out of it alive. Whatever crap he's done over the years, however much you hate him...he was a good man and we owe him. And the one thing in the world that he cared about more than anything else by far was Elijah. He spent years in and out of Mungo's trying to stop them from permanently admitting him. We can't just let that happen now."

Remus glanced over his shoulder again at the approaching people, before gazing down at Elijah's smiling face for another brief moment, a frown creasing his brow.

"Well..." Teddy heard his father murmur as Tonks let go of Elijah to swipe furiously at her eyes. "Nobody's perfect."

And with that, Remus reached forward to lay a hand upon Elijah's shoulder, before the two of them disappeared with a soft pop.


	25. Web of Lies

_Note: Hello! I'd just like to say sorry for the lack of updates on my stories this past week or so! I'm incredibly busy at University! I have an exam tomorrow afternoon and a project due in on Friday! PANIC! Still, here is a chapter for you, I hope you all like it!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**25: Web of Lies**

"What you're saying, Mrs. Lupin, is that you haven't seen Mr. Carrow-Smyth's nephew, Elijah Benson? He wasn't in the house?"

Teddy watched his mother look up from a sniffling inspection of her lap to fix the Ministry official with wide, frustrated eyes.

"Can you see him?" the Auror inquired irritably, gesturing around them with a wave of her hand. "Does it LOOK like he's here? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying!"

The wizard pursed his lips sympathetically as he told her:

"I understand how difficult this must be for you, Mrs. Lupin, but we simply need to get the facts straight. Now then, Mr. Potter tells me that it was your husband who contacted us. Could you tell me where he is now?"

There was a sizable pause before Tonks decided:

"No, I can't."

"I see..." the wizard said, frowning deeply as he scribbled something in the notebook he held in one hand. "Well...perhaps you could tell me when you last saw your husband?"

Teddy decided to stare fixatedly at his shoes, for he wondered what on earth his mother was going to say next, only to look up when she announced:

"Yesterday. At dinner."

The Ministry wizard's brow creased in clear confusion, but Tonks gave a definite nod, adding:

"He went out last night...went for a long walk, must have gone to a friend's house or something...he does that sometimes...when...when he's stressed. We've been in court, you know...very...very stressful. Obviously I...I sent my own patronus to tell him...what was happening..."

"You sent word to your husband to let him know that there was a fire?"

"Yes."

"Not the Ministry...?"

Tonks offered the man an uncharacteristically dim smile.

"Force of habit, I'm afraid." she told him, and he scribbled something else down on his notepad.

"But after sending word to us, your husband didn't come here? To make sure you and your son were safe?"

"He knows we're safe. I told him to stay away. He had an accident a while ago, it left his lungs in a poor state. Good few gulps of that smoke and he could land himself in hospital again. And he'd be bound to put himself at risk, what with him being a idiot Gryffindor through and through."

"Could you tell me more about Mr. Carrow-Smyth? What was he doing at the house? Did...did he start the fire, perhaps?"

"Um..." Tonks reached to swipe a few tears from her eyes with a sniff, before mumbling: "Yes...yes, that...that was his fault."

"You're quite sure?" the wizard asked her, and she hastily added:

"It was an accident."

"I see...only, we've had reports of green flames before in connection to Mr. Carrow-Smyth's nephew..."

"It had nothing to do with Elijah. Like I said, he wasn't even there...Artemis wouldn't have dreamt of bringing him round. Artemis was lighting some candles and he knocked one of them over."

"Lighting...candles?"

"That's right."

"With green flames?"

"Exactly. Green was his favourite colour...I suppose he thought it more romantic."

There was a long, bemused silence and to Teddy's horror his mother let out a heavy sigh and said:

"Well I suppose I might as well just tell you everything, save you having to ask. It'll all come out in the end anyway, I expect."

"That would be very helpful of you." the wizard agreed, though Teddy couldn't help but feel that he sounded somewhat reluctant.

Tonks sighed heavily again and reached to bury her face in her hands.

"Merlin...this might just ruin my marriage...!" she squeaked, apparently overcome with anguish, and for some reason Teddy felt the need to reach and pat her gingerly upon the arm. The mousy haired witch drew in a deep, shuddering breath before straightening up and fixing the wizard stood before her with guilt-ridden eyes.

"Artemis and I," she announced, pausing for dramatic emphasis, "were having an affair."

The following stunned pause dragged on for a long minute as the wizard struggled to keep his expression entirely neutral.

"Oh..." he finally managed, quill hovering uncertainly above the notepad, and again Tonks nodded her head vigorously just in case he hadn't quite gotten the message. "Haven't you been...suspended, though? For hexing him, I mean?"

The witch let out a rather shaky chuckle.

"Well you know what they say, don't you? Thin line, and all that." she said, as Teddy gawped at the side of her head. "Besides, I was angry at him...he said...he said he was going to tell Remus all about us and...well, obviously that would have been a disaster so...I lost my temper and hexed him. Anyway, since Remus had wandered off for the night, I asked Artemis over, we stayed downstairs...you know, because of Teddy here, this morning Remus still wasn't back, I was going to send Ted round to his grandmother's house, give Artemis and I some time alone, Artemis was lighting some candles, that sort of thing, and he knocked one of them over. Before we knew what was going on, the whole kitchen was on fire."

The wizard continued to scribble notes for a minute before he was distracted by one of his colleagues calling to him from the lawn and he excused himself to hurry over.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Teddy jumped up from the garden wall that he and his mother were sat upon, rounding on her with wide eyes.

"Mum..." he began, only for Tonks to get to her feet to and swiftly murmur:

"Not a word, Theodore. Not a single word." Reaching to smooth her disheveled hair with a heavy sigh, the Auror decided: "I suppose we best get you back to school. I know it's hard, but you don't want to sit around and listen to any more of these questions, it's painful enough as it is. I'll speak to somebody, they can apparate you to the school gates, perhaps."

It was lunch time by the time that one of the Ministry wizards had escorted Teddy back to school, where he was met at the gates by gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid.

"Alrigh' there, Ted?" Hagrid called as he pulled the vast gates open to allow the boy inside, offering the Ministry man a brief nod. "They've been wondering where you are up at the castle, Headmistress was expecting you back the same time as yer dad."

"Dad's...here already?" Teddy asked as he hurried through the gates, coming to a halt beside the enormous man and gazing up at him in surprise. "Since when?"

"Well o' course I can't be certain," Hagrid told him as he reached to push the gates shut and they began to magically lock themselves with heavy, snaking chains, "but I reckon he's been back a good half hour. Saw him in the Great Hall, yeh see, albeit briefly. He must be terribly behind on his marking or something, came hurrying in, grabbed a few sandwiches and a couple o' sausage rolls, then made for the door again."

As they set off up the sweeping driveway towards the castle, Teddy attempted to make sense of his father's presence, or indeed Elijah's lack of it, but it was difficult whilst making polite conversation.

"How's yer mum, eh? She doing okay after this morning?"

"Mmm." Teddy mumbled uncertainly.

"I shouldn't worry. Ministry'll have the house sorted before you know it, I expect. They were really good that time at Harry's, when young James set fire to his brother's mattress with Ginny's wand...ha! That boy, eh? Merlin help us when he comes to Hogwarts!"

The gamekeeper babbled cheerily all the way back to the castle, where he left Teddy at the main doors to head towards the lake. Teddy was just deciding that he'd skip lunch and go to his dormitory instead when he heard Hagrid call a greeting to somebody in the grounds.

"Alrigh' Remus? Got Ted back for you! Headmistress says Tonks is safe and sound 'n all!"

"So I hear!"

At the sound of Remus' voice, Teddy spun around to find the werewolf striding across the lawn towards him, midway through shoving something deep into the pocket of his trousers.

"You look rather like you could use a drink." Hagrid informed the pale-faced professor, and the Head of Gryffindor House gave a grim chuckle and told him:

"I thought I'd settle for some fresh air instead. It shall have to do, no rest for the wicked, is there?"

Remus passed Teddy with only the briefest of glances, and the boy was quick to grab hold of him by the arm in an attempt to keep up with his long strides.

"Dad!" the boy hissed, pulling on his arm to try and slow him down. "What's happening? Where...where's Elijah?"

Remus promptly pulled his arm free of hi son's grasp, reaching to straighten his jumper as he murmured:

"I don't know what you're talking about, Theodore."

"But..."

"I suggest you go and get some lunch. You're due in Defense in ten minutes time. I'd rather not take points off of my own house for tardiness."

Teddy came to a reluctant halt, frowning deeply as he watched his father mount the marble staircase, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket as he went to smother a spluttering cough.

When Teddy shuffled into the Great Hall a minute later, he didn't need to look around for Chester or Victoire, for they spotted him first and abandoned their seats at the Gryffindor table to meet him.

"Have you seen this?" Victoire wanted to know, thrusting a copy of that morning's Daily Prophet under his nose.

Teddy took a small step backwards, blinking as he looked down at the headline.

THE DARK CREATURE'S CHILD: IDENTITY REVEALED!

Teddy felt his heart begin to hammer in his chest as he snatched the paper from Victoire's hands, hurrying to read the article itself.

_Mere hours after the court appearance of the Lupin family, the Daily Prophet can reveal leaked information from top Ministry sources who say that investigators are following a new lead. _

"_We are now almost entirely certain that the Lupin's son, Theodore, is entirely unconnected with Moirai Cantrall's prophecy. As such, the continuous accusations of Mr. Artemis Carrow-Smyth have been false, and should the Ministry conclude that he made these accusations with knowledge of this fact, all disciplinary measures against Head of Aurors Nymphadora Lupin will be severely lessened. Slander is a very serious matter, and we shall act accordingly."_

_Leaks suggest that Mr. Carrow-Smyth, head of the Werewolf Registry, had a motive for corrupting the investigation. His nephew, Elijah Benson, is another likely candidate to be identified as the Child. Benson, the son of Mr. Carrow-Smyth's sister Arista and her husband Matthias, has been in the care of his uncle for the majority of his life, follow the tragic deaths of his parents. Matthias Benson was attacked and bitten by a werewolf mere days after Elijah's birth. The family soon ran into financial difficulties when Arista's family shunned her for insisting on remaining with her husband. Unable to afford Wolfsbane potion every month, tragedy struck a mere year later when Matthias broke free of the protective wards set by his wife at full moon, running rampage through the family home and brutally murdering Arista. Grief-stricken, Matthias committed suicide mere days later, leaving his son in the care of Mr. Carrow-Smyth, who had until that point severed all ties with his sister and her family. _

_A friend of Mrs. Benson, Miss Gertrude Simmons, claims that prior to Matthias contracting lycanthropy, Artemis Carrow-Smyth had been incredibly close to his sister. _

"_They would visit each other every other day." Miss Simmons recalled. "Artemis was always going round for dinner. He was very fond of little Elijah, too." _

_Elijah Benson, now sixteen, is rarely seen in public and did not take up his place at Hogwarts School when he was eleven. The Daily Prophet can reveal that he frequents St. Mungo's Hospital with his uncle, though the reason for his visits are currently unknown. _

"_I last saw Elijah about six months ago at St. Mungo's whilst visiting my sick father." Miss Simmons told our reporter. "I could hardly believe my eyes, he looked like such a sorry soul, so small and young for his age, too. Though I'm sure Artemis does his best, I have no doubt that Elijah's tragic past has had a profound and lasting effect upon him." _

"Can you believe it?" Chester exclaimed, and Teddy opened his mouth to admit that actually yes, he could, only to remember that saying such a thing would perhaps be unwise. He settled for a shrug instead.

He didn't really feel hungry anymore.

In fact, he didn't really feel like anything.

He wished that his parents weren't so intent on carrying on as if nothing had happened. Because it had. Artemis Carrow-Smyth was dead. Crushed to death in Teddy's own kitchen.

"Are you alright, Ted?" Victoire asked, frowning up at his pale face, and Teddy found himself nodding.

"I'm fine." he mumbled, eying his shoes with a small frown. "I just...have a headache, that's all."

He didn't want to tell his friends about the fire, about Carrow-Smyth or his parents. It was all too soon, too difficult...

"We should go to class." he told them instead, ignoring the scrutinizing eyes upon him. "We don't want to be late or anything."

As they set off across the Entrance Hall and made for the marble staircase, Chester wondered:

"Do you reckon your dad knows about Elijah Benson? I mean, what happened to his parents?"

"No." Teddy muttered darkly, recalling the angry conversation between his mother and Carrow-Smyth in the kitchen just before the fire had started.

"Merlin, just imagine when he reads the paper then...!" Chester exclaimed, and Victoire offered him a questioning look. "Well," the muggle born elaborated, as if it were obvious, "bet that'll freak him out, you know, 'cause it's kind of like him and Ted..."

"SHUT UP, CHESTER!" Teddy demanded, composure instantly shattered, and to the alarm of both of his friends, the young wizard let out a poorly suppressed sob before bolting down the corridor towards the Defense classroom.

He found Remus stood at the side of the empty classroom, staring blankly out of the window. The werewolf did not move at the sound of his son's stumbling entrance, nor at the sound of the door swinging shut again behind him.

"Dad?" Teddy called, at last allowing the tears to fall freely down his cheeks. "Dad, I...I can't do this, I can't...can't just pretend nothing has happened, I...I mean...Artemis is...he's DEAD!"

It was not until he had weaved his way around the maze of desks and come to stand at Remus' side that the professor finally turned to face him, expression deeply troubled.

"Nobody's saying you have to pretend nothing has happened, Teddy." Remus assured the boy softly, reaching to put an arm around his shoulders. "We simply need to be...careful."

Teddy screwed his eyes shut and leant to bury his face in his father's side.

"He's dead, Dad! He's...he's gone..."

"I know."

"What...what are we going to do? What about...what about Elijah?"

He felt Remus' grip upon his tighten considerably as the werewolf murmured:

"You don't need to worry about Elijah. He's...safe."

"What have you done with him?"

"You mustn't ask me that. You mustn't ever ask me..."

"But..."

"Listen to me, Theodore, listen well. Whatever you do, you must never ask about Elijah, you mustn't mention him. If you do...if anybody finds out about what I've done..."

"But what have you done?"

"...the Headmistress will sack me."

"What...? Why?"

"I will lose my job, there's no doubt about it. And Merlin knows where I'd find another one, so whatever you do, don't mention Elijah. As long as it all stays secret, and it will, you needn't worry, Ted. Your mother and I will sort everything out."

There was a long, thoughtful silence before Teddy whispered:

"You can't raise the dead though, can you Dad?"

Remus sighed heavily, head bowed solemnly.

"No." he agreed softly, reaching to run a weary hand through his hair. "No, Ted, I can't."

"One moment he...he was there and the next you were looking and...and..."

"I know. I know it's difficult, Teddy, death is a terrible thing especially when people go before their time. It's alright to be upset, that's entirely natural, all we can do is remember the positive things and keep them alive. That way, nobody is ever truly gone."

"You've never a good word to say about Artemis." Teddy pointed out almost fondly, and to his surprise Remus smiled weakly.

"On the contrary," the werewolf declared solemnly. "Artemis Carrow-Smyth was one of the bravest, and most loving men that I've ever met. He was a greater man than me, that's for sure."

At that moment the door to the classroom was pushed open, and Remus' arm hastily dropped to his side. As students began to file into the room, he murmured: "Consider yourself excused from lessons for the rest of the day, if you like."

Teddy chose to remain in Defense Against the Dark Arts that afternoon, for he found Remus' steady composure comforting as the werewolf set about demonstrating a particularly tricky looking stinging jinx. He tried his best to copy his father's example, to carry on regardless, listen and take notes, but the young Gryffindor soon found his mind wandering to the terrible events of that morning. As he lined up along with the rest of the class to see who could sting their teacher the hardest, or in the majority of cases merely ruffle the front of his robes, Teddy found himself staring at his father, a little unnerved by how entirely unflinching the werewolf was by the jinxes being fired at him, and when Teddy reached the front of the line, he found himself pondering a disturbing question:

What precisely had Remus seen, when he had looked through the kitchen window?

"Teddy...?"

It was at that moment that, at the sound of Remus' voice, Teddy realised that the entire class was staring at him, waiting for him to attempt the spell...

What had the incantation been? And the wand movement...a flick? A swish...?

Remus cleared his throat meaningfully, deciding:

"That will do for now, I think. Back to your seats please." As the class obediently made for their desks, he told them: "That was not bad for a first attempt, but of course a true stinging jinx is not only far more painful, but is also very useful in disarming your opponent, indeed it is common for them to drop their wand out of sheer shock at the sudden stinging sensation..."

At that precise moment, a bright jet of purple light came streaking down the middle of the classroom, striking Remus directly in the arm and the class gave a collective gasp of surprise as the professor's arm gave a jolt, his wand clattering to the floor beside him.

"Rather like that, as it happens." a familiar voice announced from the classroom's doorway, and the entire class turned to look at the speaker.

Deputy Head of Aurors Harry Potter lowered his wand.

"Afternoon." he called, smiling widely as Remus stooped to retrieve his wand with a chuckle. "How are our future Aurors coming along? You know, Professor, the intake's been increasing year by year since you returned to Hogwarts."

"I'm glad to hear it. I daresay there are at least a few candidates in this class." Remus called, smiling warmly. "It's been a while since we've seen you here, Harry. To what does Hogwarts owe the pleasure?"

The students watched curiously as Harry reached to draw out a chair from behind an empty desk at the back of the room.

"Don't mind me." he called to the werewolf at the front, dropping down into the chair and waving a hand to signal that he ought carry on. "I'm here to be nostalgic." At Remus' raised eyebrow, the dark haired Auror added: "And to have a word with you at the end."

When Remus dismissed the class some while later, Teddy hung back, taking his time packing away his things, mumbling an excuse to Chester about needing help with some homework. It was not long before he was the only student left in the room, and he watched out of the corner of his eye as Remus joined Harry at the back of the room.

"I saw Tonks arrive at the Ministry just as I was leaving." the boy heard Harry announce as he rose from his chair. "She was off to sign an official statement about this morning. She said if I came and bothered you she'd curse me into oblivion. But...well...here I am."

The Auror sighed heavily at the rather uncertain smile that Remus offered him, only to snigger when the werewolf offered:

"Well, I won't tell if you don't."

"She's right, though." Harry admitted somewhat wearily. "I shouldn't be bothering you. The Ministry shouldn't be bothering you, not after the day you've all had."

"You're here on behalf of the Ministry, then?"

"That's right. MLE are panicking, they've enlisted the Auror Department's help. They wanted to send Jackson to talk to you, but I wasn't having it. It's bad enough they want a word without them sending a moron like him along. Besides, I thought we could have tea or something. If you're not teaching next period, of course."

Remus turned to wipe the blackboard clean with a swish of his wand, and Teddy flinched in anticipation of being spotted eavesdropping, only for both wizards to ignore him.

"What does MLE want with me this time?" Remus wondered, and Teddy's stomach clenched at the question.

"Nothing much. They want to know if you've seen this boy."

Teddy glanced round to see Harry produce a faded looking photograph from the inside pocket of his scarlet robes, holding it out for Remus to examine.

Remus stared blankly down at the image for a long moment, before shaking his head.

"I've never seen him before in my life." he said, turning to retrieve a pile of papers that he had set down upon one of the desks. "Who is he?"

"I could've told them that myself, but they insisted I come over!" Harry grumbled, shoving the picture back into his pocket. "It's Carrow-Smyth's nephew, Elijah Benson."

"Merlin...poor boy." Remus murmured, sighing heavily, and Harry pursed his lips together, eying the werewolf worriedly.

"You...know about Carrow-Smyth, then? That's he's...dead?"

"Mm...that's what Dora says. Terrible, terrible business."

There was a long silence before Harry glanced over at Teddy, clearing his throat meaningfully.

"I um...I had something else to ask, actually." he mumbled, causing Remus to look over at Teddy too.

"You'll be late for Charms, Ted." the professor pointed out, giving the boy his marching orders by gesturing towards the door.

Teddy obediently picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder before hurrying out of the door, shooting Harry the briefest of glances. Almost as soon as the door had closed behind him, the boy leant to press his ear to the door.

"Everybody's going to kill me for asking, Remus, I know they will and I know I shouldn't even say anything but...but I just...I just don't understand..."

"You don't understand...?"

"I don't understand...you and...and Tonks. You and Tonks and...and Carrow-Smyth."

There was a long pause, and when Remus failed to reply, Teddy heard the awkward shuffling of feet before Harry admitted:

"I've not seen it but...but there are people at the Ministry...they...they're saying that...that Tonks said...well...well...I mean...it's not true, is it? You and Tonks...she wouldn't...she wouldn't do that to you, would she? I...I don't believe a word of it...I can't..."

Silence.

Teddy held his breath. It was not for some while that Harry finally demanded:

"Tell me they're lying, Remus!"

Teddy silently wished that Remus would think of something to say, but the werewolf remained mute.

"They are lying!" Harry insisted, sounding suddenly agitated. "They're bloody lying, I know it, you...you've a...a good marriage! You've got a good marriage, you've been married for years, Tonks adores you and...and she wouldn't...Carrow-Smyth's...he was a bastard! He was..."

"Dora's ex boyfriend." Remus finally supplied, voice a strained murmur, and quite suddenly it was Harry's turn to be silent.

"What?" the Auror finally managed to exclaim a long moment later, and Remus cleared his throat resolutely and said:

"They went to school together, and they dated for a while."

"Well...well that's irrelevant! I...I don't care, Tonks still wouldn't...!"

"Wouldn't she?"

"No! Of course she wouldn't! You know better than I do...!"

"Do I? You'd be surprised what I don't know, Harry. I'll tell you what I do know, though. Mine isn't the perfect marriage you all seem to think it is. I spend more time at Hogwarts than I do at home...in fact these days I spend longer at Mungo's than at home too. The majority of the time we spend together consists of me sleeping and her lying awake wondering whether or not I'm still breathing, and nothing is about to get any better any lifetime soon. I'm pretty sure Dora finds the whole entire situation a burden..."

"But...! But you're not saying...you can't be serious, Remus, she wouldn't..."

"You don't know that for sure, Harry. If you were entirely sure you wouldn't have bothered mentioning it to me."

There was a long, pained silence before Remus offered:

"It's alright, Harry. Well...not alright but...we're working things out, there's no need to worry about it. Try not to mention it to people, will you? I know it'll probably be all over the Prophet within a week, but...well...it's bad enough for Teddy as it is without his friends and family examining his parents' marriage under a magnifying glass too."

"What are you going to do?" Teddy heard Harry ask weakly, and Remus sighed heavily.

"Well..." the werewolf murmured reluctantly. "I can't say I know for sure. I...I'm trying not to think of it. I don't want it to get in the way of work..." he trailed off uncertainly, and Harry mumbled:

"Well...if you...need to talk..."

"Mm. I'll be...fine. I suppose I'm still..."

"In shock?"

"Exactly. I'm sure by the evening it'll hit me. If...if you see Dora back at the Ministry...tell her...tell her I won't be home this evening. I...I don't think I can...well..."

"See her?"

"No, I can't see her...not...yet."

"Sweet Merlin..." Harry breathed, sounding somewhat shaken. "I still don't think I can believe it."

"Me neither." Remus mumbled, sighing heavily. "An affair...! What was she thinking?"

Outside in the corridor, Teddy wasn't sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

What had his mother been thinking? She and Remus were spinning such enormous lies to cover their tracks that Teddy was sure that it would not be long before they found themselves caught in their own web.


	26. One Way Out

_Note: Once again I'm very sorry for the slow update! Anyway, I hope it was worth the wait! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing. _

**26: One Way Out**

By dinner time, Teddy had yet to regain his appetite, and yet he still wandered down to the Great Hall with Chester and Victoire, pouring himself a meagre bowl of tomato soup and chasing little chunks of bread around the little orange pool, trying his best to look busy. A few glances up towards the teacher's table suggested to the young metamorphmagus that Remus was making a similar effort, indeed he did not touch the food upon his plate, preferring instead to sip his goblet of pumpkin juice, hunched and subdued in his chair. When pudding was served, the werewolf gave up on the facade entirely, getting slowly to his feet and heading for the double doors.

Teddy counted to ten before setting off after him, and as he reached the entrance hall, he just about caught sight of his father slipping out of the main doors that led out into the grounds.

There was a chilly breeze in the air that evening, and as Teddy hurried softly across the grass after Remus, he reached to draw his black school robes more tightly around him. By the time they reached the cool shade of the trees beside the lake, the young Gryffindor wished that he had been wearing a cloak. He took cover behind a nearby tree, and watched his father sink down upon the damp grass at the lakeside, and his stomach clenched worriedly when, after a long moment of staring aimlessly out across the dark water, Remus reached to bury his face in his hands with a heavy sigh.

Soft padding footsteps drew Teddy's attention, and the boy hurriedly dropped into a crouch as they drew nearer beside him, only to stop just short of his hiding place as a voice announced:

"Harry says you don't want to see me."

As Remus slowly removed his face from the refuge of his hands, Teddy watched Tonks step out of the shadows of the nearby trees, her arms folded across her chest as she wandered forward, a soft chuckle escaping her lips.

She stopped dead in her tracks when her husband told her:

"He's right. I don't."

The Auror considered this distinctly hostile reception for a long moment, only to conclude that the best course of action was to simply ignore it.

"Harry sent me to talk to Minerva about the Seventh Years' conference. He says he'd like me to do it, once my suspension's over, because he's got too much to do as it is without worrying about a school visit."

"I'd rather you didn't."

"That keen to stay clear of me, are you?"

"Yes."

Tonks went to stand at Remus' back, lips pursed together thoughtfully as he stared determinedly out across the lake, refusing to turn and face her.

"Very good, love." she concluded at last, a smile creeping back onto her lips. "Very in character, you even had me going for a minute there..."

"I'm not acting."

Teddy could only assume that true understanding had begun to dawn, for his mother drew a deep breath, and began pacing up and down, hands clasped together before her until they grew red from the effort.

"Alright, alright...I admit, this hasn't exactly turned out well, and I get it, you're mad..."

"Mad?" At long last, Remus turned to face her, expression so utterly furious that Teddy was pretty sure that he had never seen such anger in his whole entire life. "You think I'm MAD? I'm not MAD, Dora, I'm COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY LIVID! Do you have even the slightest clue what you've done? Do you even realise...has it even occurred to you just what you've done to me? Do you know what I've had to do? Can you even imagine what it felt like? To tell Harry...to tell him that my wife has been having an AFFAIR? An affair with a man he thinks is a absolute bastard? Do you have any idea how utterly humiliating and difficult that is? And it wasn't even bloody true! It was a LIE! A bloody stupid one, too! I've lied to HARRY, I've lied to the MINISTRY, I've lied to MINERVA, to ELIJAH...Merlin, I've even lied to my own SON! I've lied so much today that I'm not even bloody sure what's a lie and what isn't! And why? Because you had to come up with some sort of insane reason why I should KIDNAP somebody the Ministry's looking for! Because you had to come up with the most elaborate and ridiculous lie that I've ever heard in my whole entire life! And what am I going to do now? What am I going to do about Elijah? What am I supposed to do with him? What am I supposed to do about US?"

"We'll figure it out," Tonks insisted, head bowed shamefully at his outburst. "We'll think of what to do, together..."

"No we won't." Remus complained, turning back to stare at the water, reaching to rake a frustrated hand through his hair. "We can't...I can't...just...just go home, Dora. Go home."

There was a long, pained silence, and for a horrible moment the despair that passed across his mother's face convinced Teddy that she would burst into tears. But she drew in a deep, steadying breath and asked:

"Where's Elijah?"

Remus was silent for long enough that Teddy thought he might be attempting to ignore her, but at long last the werewolf consented to mumbling:

"In the Shrieking Shack...absurd place to leave him, I know...but it was the first place that came to mind. It's not better than Mungo's, that's for sure. It's a million times worse."

Tonks frowned thoughtfully, and despite him casting her a suitably disapproving look, she went to drop down upon the grass beside him, drawing her knees up towards her chin.

"How've you persuaded him to stay put?"

"Sleeping draught...I stole it from one of the potions' storerooms."

"Clever."

"Mm."

There was a long silence before he finally turned to peer at her through the gathering darkness as he murmured;

"Dora...?"

"Hm?"

"I'm in trouble."

"Yes..."

"Serious trouble."

"There's no doubt."

"I don't see a way out of this one."

"Me neither." Tonks reached to sweep the hair back from her eyes, only for it to fall back again when she dropped her gaze to her shoes. "This is all my fault." she mumbled dejectedly, and to Teddy's astonishment, Remus leant back to lie flat upon his back, gaze upon the heavy rain clouds above them, before agreeing:

"Yes. It is."

The mousy haired witch promptly burst into tears. Her husband sighed wearily, his eyes drifting closed as he mumbled:

"Go home, Dora. I'll owl and confess in the morning. Then it will all be over, one way or another."

"What...do you want to go to bloody Azkaban?" Tonks asked him somewhat shrilly, only for Remus to tell her:

"Why not? It'll be a relief!"

"What about Teddy? If you confess they'll know I've lied to them! They'll sack me on the spot...they might even lock me up for a little too if they feel like it! And where would that leave our son? Both parents jobless, his father in prison for Merlin knows how long...! You can't do that to him, Remus!"

"Perhaps you should have thought of all of that before you decided we should put some other person's child before our own..."

"Are you calling me a bad parent?"

"The best we can do now is set Teddy a good example, confess everything and take the consequences."

Tonks visibly bit her lip against whatever protest came to mind, and there was silence for a moment as she attempted to halt the flow of tears down her cheeks in vain. Teddy watched her swallow the lump in her throat before lying back upon the grass beside her husband, leaning upon one side so that she could gaze down at him with watery, pleading eyes.

"I...I wouldn't be able to stand it...if you were to be gone." she whispered, reaching to lay a tentative hand upon his arm as he stared forlornly up at the clouds. "Honestly, Remus, sod the jobs and the money and everything, I couldn't give a toss but...but you...in Azkaban...for the love of Merlin please don't do that to me..."

The werewolf let out a somewhat choked laugh, reaching to pass a weary hand across his eyes.

"Sweet Merlin, when on earth did I marry somebody so utterly self-absorbed? After all he did you wanted me to help Artemis for you so that you didn't feel guilty about him! You wanted me to spend time locked up in Azkaban for you. You guilt tripped me into kidnapping Elijah away from the Ministry so that you didn't feel quite so bad about Artemis dying! Then you forced me into this utterly ridiculous facade and made me tell Harry all sorts of lies, and if you have your way I'll be lying constantly for the rest of my life, you don't care what it does to me, you don't care how stressful it is just as long as I'm around to keep you company whilst I do it! Well forget it, Dora, I won't play along anymore, for once in my life I'm going to do what's best for _me_. I should have done it ages ago, if I had _what's best for me_ wouldn't turn out to be a few months locked up in a concrete cell in the middle of the North bloody Sea!"

There was a long, pained silence as Tonks struggled to find her voice, before she managed to murmur:

"But...but that's not best for you!"

"It really is."

"No it isn't! They'll...they'll deny you Wolfsbane..."

"Wolfsbane wasn't invented until I was in my late twenties, Dora, I didn't get to take any until I was in my thirties, I think thirty years is plenty proof enough that I can survive without it..."

"You weren't sick when you were younger..."

"I'm not sick now."

"You can't have professional qualified healers knock a decade off your life expectancy and still tell me you're not sick."

"It's irrelevant."

"Irrelevant? How is it irrelevant? What happened to all those conversations we had after you left the hospital? You told me not to be frightened, that you'd be around for years and years, that you weren't going to leave Teddy and me, not ever! And now you're just going to...to waste away in prison for a few months, see if you can knock off a few extra years and prove the healers horribly wrong!"

"Dora they said roughly a decade off of my entire life, not that I had only one decade left! And what do they know anyway? I'm not going to just...just drop dead..."

"No? What about the morning of the fire? What did you do then?"

"I'm still here. Besides, there's no point thinking like that. We never consider the fact that you're more likely to drop dead one day than I am, do we? We never talk about how many Killing Curses you dodge per day, or whether or not you might not dodge fast enough tomorrow. And why not? Because we can't live life like that, we never have, not even during the War. For Merlin's sake, let's not start now! That's no way to live a life, and neither is lying constantly to hide Elijah. I'll confess in the morning...I'll go to the Ministry instead of owling, it'll cause less of a fuss."

"Please, Remus..."

"Don't."

"But please..."

"I said don't. Just don't."

"I'm begging you..."

"You're wasting your breath."

"Think of Teddy! Of the three of us!"

"I am."

Tonks leaned forward until she could fix her husband with the most imploring look that she could muster, tears dripping from her face into a sorry looking damp patch upon his shirt collar.

"Remus," she said, voice suddenly firm. "I swear, if you love us, you won't make me show up in the Great Hall tomorrow morning to drag our son away from his friends and into an empty classroom to tell him that his father is being sent to prison. If you love us you won't hurt him like that, you won't leave me to pick up the pieces because I won't do it. I...I can't."

Teddy felt his heart hammering in his chest and he reached to clamp a horrified hand over his mouth as he waited for his father's response. He both dreaded and welcomed Remus' words, for the anticipation was painful enough in itself.

But when Remus finally turned his head to look away from his silent contemplation of his wife's tear-stained face, his next words were like a plunging dagger into his son's heart.

"I swear," the werewolf whispered, staring off into the darkness. "If you loved me, you wouldn't be trying to emotionally blackmail me into yet more lies. If you loved me, you wouldn't hurt me like that. I'll leave you to pick up the pieces because you will do it. It's your mess, Dora, you must do it."

And so it was that at precisely eight o'clock the following morning, Remus Lupin stepped into the telephone box at the visitors' entrance to the Ministry of Magic and, when prompted, provided his name and reason for visiting.

"Remus Lupin. I'm here to...confess. Hand myself in."

There was a soft click as a visitor's badge slid out into the dish in front of him. He reached to pick it up, holding it up to read:

Remus Lupin

Spineless Failed Criminal and Werewolf

For a long moment, Remus simply stared. For some reason he found himself marveling at the absurd wording and as the telephone box gave a small lurch, leaving him to struggle to keep his balance, he mused that had he not been the only one of the four remaining he would have put it down as a Marauders' practical joke, it was rather funny...

The door swung abruptly open and Remus found himself staring down the long, grand space that was the Ministry's Atrium.

And quite suddenly he was no longer laughing.

He stood, frozen for a long moment by an abrupt surge of doubt. At least, he thought despairingly as he drew in a deep, steadying breath, he had stayed resolute up until this point. Had doubts pounced upon him the night beforehand, he might just have given in to them...

Dora was startlingly good at making him give in. Sometimes Remus wondered if he were ever entirely in control of his own actions. Despite this, and despite his anger, he had dared to go home the previous night, dared to creep up the staircase and across the landing into the bedroom to find his wife lying motionlessly in bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. At the sound of him shuffling through the doorway, she'd sat bolt upright in bed, drawn breath to speak, but he had silenced her with a raised hand.

Don't say anything.

He couldn't risk it. He couldn't trust her, couldn't trust himself. They could say nothing all night, not a single word just in case he crumbled.

He'd climbed into bed beside her and told a last lie or two. He told himself he wasn't angry, that it wasn't her fault, that she wasn't crying into his shoulder again. And then he'd kissed the tears away, because all the best lies are made convincing by destroying contrary evidence. He'd kissed her till the tears were gone, till they were both too breathless to sob or weep and for a while it had been just the two of them, nothing else in the world, and he'd not a care for the tightness in his chest because the smooth touch of her skin under his fingertips had made him forget himself entirely. It had been dangerous, he'd supposed, because he might have lost his nerve, she might have changed his mind. And yet she had not said a word to try and sway him. He hadn't given her the chance. After a time they had lain in a tight knot of limbs and discarded clothes, and he'd made sure to disentangle himself before he finally fell asleep.

It had made it easier to sneak out of the house the following morning without waking her.

And that was how he came to be standing, staring through the doorway and into the Atrium, dressed in clean clothes and yet disheveled. He felt sweaty. He'd not dared take a shower or even fill the sink for fear of waking his sleeping wife. He'd liked the image of her tucked up asleep in bed as a final picture to recall, he hadn't wanted a scene.

He drew in another deep, calming breath, only for the voice in the telephone box to demand:

"Well go on then! Out you get!"

Remus gave himself a little shake and stepped out into the Atrium. The vast room was swarming with people going to and from the numerous fireplaces that lined the walls and the werewolf fixed his gaze resolutely upon the desk at the far end of the room, just to the left of the elevator.

He started to walk, speeding up as he went just in case he'd not make it and make a dash for the nearest fireplace instead. He dodged people as he went, keeping his gaze fixated upon the desk, only to come to an abrupt halt a few meters before it, causing a witch to walk straight into the back of him. Whether or not he remembered to mumble an apology he didn't really know.

Remus eyed the wizard sat behind the desk, heart beginning to thud in his chest.

He was a small, squat man with sleek dark hair that had been swept back from his sallow face, into which were impressed a pair of dark, piercing eyes. Had he not been so preoccupied, Remus may have mused upon his uncanny similarities to the late Severus Snape.

Remus took a few uncertain steps forward until he was stood just in front of the desk and as the man looked up from the papers he was examining to offer the werewolf a questioning look, he swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. He paused long enough to make the man frown rather impatiently as he inquired:

"Yes? Can I help you?"

Remus reached to shove his hands deep into his pockets. He managed a rather uncertain:

"Um..."

In all honesty, this hadn't really been how he had envisaged this process going. He'd intended on striding boldly up to the desk and announcing his purpose in a suitably bold and distinctly not pathetic manner.

He cleared his throat determinedly and drew breath to try again, only he didn't get any further for it was at that precise moment that he heard a very familiar voice behind him shouting:

"REMUS!"


	27. Two Vows

_Note: Dedicated to Messer Moony, for all the help! XD_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**27: Two Vows**

As Remus Lupin watched Deputy Head of Aurors Harry Potter hurrying across the Atrium towards him, he felt his heart sink to his shoes at the thought of the scene the two of them were no doubt about to cause.

Nevertheless, the werewolf turned resolutely back to the wizard behind the desk, drawing himself up to his full height as he cleared his throat purposefully.

"Um..." he managed again, silently cursing his sudden reluctance to speak, only to feel Harry's hand upon his arm, forcing him to turn back to look at the dark haired wizard, who seemed somewhat breathless as he announced:

"Remus! I'm so glad I caught you...are you...are you here to see Tonks? You do know she's not due in until ten, don't you?"

It took Remus a long, despairing moment of staring at Harry before he finally managed to mumble:

"Um...no. No, I'm not here for...for that..."

"Oh..." Harry's face fell somewhat before he plastered a smile onto his face and called over Remus' shoulder to the man behind the desk: "It's alright Alf, he's here to see me."

"Right you are, Harry." Alf murmured, and with that he reached to bury his nose in that morning's edition of the Daily Prophet.

"Come on then," Harry said, turning on his heel and striding off in the direction of the lift. "Let's find somewhere quiet to have a chat...I'll break into Tonks' office, we can steal her chocolate digestives, she probably won't care."

Remus hesitated for a brief moment, casting one last glance at Alf, before reluctantly setting off after the younger wizard.

"Actually, Harry..." he began as they came to a halt before the lift doors. "I um...I wasn't here for a chat with you, either."

"You weren't?"

"No...I um..."

I'm here to confess to kidnapping a child.

I'm here to be escorted to prison, where I'll be left to rot for a few months.

I'm here because Dora and I are terrible liars...

"I'm here because I need to...visit the Werewolf Registry."

Even as the lie flowed unbidden from his lips, Remus felt the sinking feeling in his chest swell until he was quite sure that it would consume him and he would find himself disappearing through the solid marble floor beneath his feet.

For the love of Merlin, what had possessed him to say that?

It was shame, he supposed as the lift doors clicked open and he and Harry both shuffled inside. Because admitting the truth to Harry was almost as bad as admitting it to Teddy.

As was Harry's assumption that Remus needed them to have "a little chat". It had used to be the other way around...the reversal was deeply embarrassing.

"Well let's have a cup of coffee or something first." Harry suggested as the lift doors closed behind them. "I'm utterly parched!"

"The thing is, Harry, I'm in a bit of a rush..." Remus decided, reaching to scratch the back of his neck self consciously. "I need to get back to..." he trailed off into silence as Harry rounded on him with such imploring eyes that he quite forgot where it was that he supposedly needed to get back to.

"Please." Harry said simply, and Remus silently cursed himself as he let out a small sigh and agreed:

"Well...alright then."

Remus was pretty sure that he had never dreaded a conversation more than this in his whole entire life. By the time they had arrived in Tonks' office and Harry had disappeared off to fetch them a cup of coffee each, the werewolf was seriously considering bursting out of the office and, whilst the Deputy Head of Aurors was out of earshot, announcing to the Auror Department at large that he had kidnapped Elijah Benson. He was just playing out the whole dramatic scene in his head, complete with Ron Weasley's exclamations of: _You've got to be bloody joking_, when Harry arrived back and any possibility of escape ended with the sound of the office door clicking shut behind him.

Harry strode around to the other side of the desk and took a seat in the comfy looking leather chair that Remus had purposefully avoided so that he couldn't catch sight of the family photographs that he knew Tonks kept upon her desk. Staring at the back of the frames was causing mental havoc enough as it was.

Harry set the two mugs down upon the desk, sliding one forward for Remus to take. The werewolf reached to wrap his hands around offered object, it was oddly comforting.

"We've been thinking," Harry said, leaning forward on his elbows upon the desktop. "Ginny and I, I mean, about..._things_."

Remus said nothing.

The Auror frowned deeply down at the steam rising from his mug before drawing a deep breath and mumbling:

"We've talked about everything and we've both decided that Ron and Hermione are right. It's just like Molly says, Tonks wouldn't do that to you."

Remus felt himself pale.

Merlin, they'd all been talking about it. Not just a few of them, _all_ of them. He could just imagine them congregating in the Burrow's kitchen to debate whether or not his marriage was falling apart at the seams, whether or not Dora had really gone off with Carrow-Smyth, whether or not Carrow-Smyth had truly been as much of a bastard as they had first thought, whether or not Remus was going to announce in the coming days that he planned on getting a divorce...

There had probably been tea and biscuits.

And cake.

Sweet Merlin...

When again Remus failed to say a word, Harry finally stopped staring at his coffee and, leaning ever further forward across the desk, looked up to fix Remus with searching eyes.

"What I'm trying to say," the Auror said, as Remus did his very best to stare innocently back at him, "is that I don't believe either of you. None of us do."

Remus smiled thinly.

"Well, that's very...touching." he observed sadly, and Harry pursed his lips together in frustration before it seemingly overcame him and his slapped a hand down on the table and declared:

"Artemis Carrow-Smyth was a absolute bastard!"

Remus let out a strained chuckle, grip upon his mug tightening.

"Going after a married woman like that yes, I rather suppose he was."

"Not because of that!" Harry protested, only to pause to frown deeply and admit: "Well obviously that was pretty appalling of him too, but he was an obnoxious, condescending little sod and none of us liked him! Especially not Tonks, she bloody loathed the man! I don't care if they dated when they were at school! Everybody dates everybody when they are at school, teenagers aren't that picky...remember Ron and Lavender? And I bet dating him back then would've put Tonks off for eternity, let alone life! She used to make us draw straws to see who had to go down to Carrow-Smyth's office to retrieve files! And if she got the short straw she'd moan and complain about him for the rest of the day! And...and even if she did like him...she LOVES you! She loves you more than the world, she fought with you for months and months to persuade you that you should be together! You've got a son together, you're a family! Tonks would never put your relationship at risk like this! And if she truly did she wouldn't wander into work and talk to Kingsley and Ron and I as if nothing much had happened! She'd have the good grace to be ASHAMED of herself! She'd be a complete WRECK! But she isn't, is she Remus? Not even when Carrow-Smyth who you seem to think she loved so much DIED!"

Remus reached to pass a weary hand across his eyes, wondering if it was even worth lying anymore or whether he ought just give up, admit the truth...

"Where were you?"

Harry's sudden question jolted Remus away from his sluggish mental debate and he blinked.

"Where was I...?" he repeated hesitantly, and Harry reached to grip the table edge with both hands as he asked:

"Where were you when the fire broke out? Tonks said you weren't at the house, she said you'd been away all night. Where did you sleep that night? You weren't at my house, you weren't at Molly's or Ron's, the Headmistress says you didn't return to Hogwarts..."

Sweet Merlin, he'd even been talking to Minerva...

"...so where were you?"

Attempting not to look alarmed, Remus offered Harry a raised eyebrow.

"Is this a chat over coffee with a friend," he wondered aloud, "or is the Deputy Head of Aurors interrogating me?"

Harry visibly reddened and his gaze immediately dropped back to his coffee.

"Sorry..." he mumbled, reaching to take of his glasses so that he could rub his eyes with a heavy sigh. "It's just...I'm worried."

"You don't need to be worried."

"I do. You never lie to me, Remus, except for when something is seriously wrong. You...you tried to lie when you ran away all those years ago...you had me worried then, too."

"Really, you don't need to worry."

Harry sighed heavily again before reaching for his coffee. After taking a generous gulp he set the mug back down upon the desk and recalled with a chuckle:

"Ron's theory yesterday was that you murdered Carrow-Smyth and then did a runner!"

Remus sniggered into his coffee mug.

"That's an interesting theory."

"Hermione wondered if Tonks got carried away hexing him again and set the house on fire. But then Ginny pointed out that Carrow-Smyth ought not even have been at the house in the first place...Hermione said he might have decided to apologise, you know, for messing Teddy around in court."

"Sounds more plausible to me."

"Mm."

"And...what do you think?"

Harry reached to run a finger around the rim of his mug, expression grim.

"I...don't quite know what I think." he mumbled, gaze once again downcast. "But I...I think you're in trouble somehow. You and Tonks."

Remus smiled faintly. He wasn't quite sure where he wanted this conversation to lead. He could not bear the thought of admitting the truth and yet he couldn't stand to keep lying either. He was tired of it, sick of it, it almost made him long for Azkaban.

"It's alright," he decided slowly, forming a sort of half-lie in his head as a compromise. "Dora isn't in trouble..."

"But you are?" Harry said, eyes snapping back up to look at him so quickly that Remus found himself leaning back a little in his chair.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look it, you look like you've not slept for a week! Besides, I didn't ask if you were fine, I asked if you were in trouble. They aren't the same thing. You're very good at being fine when you're in trouble, aren't you Remus?"

"I'm not in trouble." Remus decided. After all he'd be in Azkaban in a few hours and there was only so much trouble that one could get into whilst sat in a small prison cell. He ignored the nerves that were twisting his stomach into knots and reached for his coffee again, attempting to ignore Harry's piercing stare.

"Your hand's trembling."

At this observation Remus snatched up the mug, narrowly avoiding dousing the front of his robes in coffee.

"Shouldn't be plying me with this much caffeine, should you?" he joked shakily, and with that he drained the mug in a few short gulps and set it back down upon Tonks' desk with a thud. "I have to go." he added abruptly, and with that he got to his feet.

Harry simply stared. When Remus was halfway to the door that he asked:

"Have you done something illegal?"

It wasn't until Remus had reached to fling the office door open wide that Harry barely heard him mutter to himself:

"You have no idea."

It took a moment for these words to sink in, but then Harry was quick to jump to his feet and dash out of the office after him.

It was alarming how fast people could move when they were running away. Once he had weaved his way through the Auror Department, dodging desks and inquires from various people, he stepped out into the corridor to spot Remus already stepping into the lift.

The Deputy Head of Aurors sprinted down the corridor, his heart instantly hammering in his chest.

"REMUS WAIT!"

The doors clicked shut mere meters in front of him and as he skidded to a halt, narrowly avoiding slamming himself bodily into the closed doors, Harry let out a shout of frustration, reaching to jab urgently at the button beside the lift.

"You alright, Harry?" a voice called from back down the corridor, and Harry glanced over his shoulder before turning his attention back to the button.

"No, Ron. No I'm not alright. Not alright at all...I...COME ON FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!"

"You keep on like that mate, you're going to break it." Ron Weasley observed as he stepped out of the doorway that led to one of the filing rooms opposite Auror Headquarters and strode down the corridor towards his best friend. "What's the rush?"

"It's...it's Remus, Ron, he's...I don't even know...we were right, there's something wrong. Seriously, seriously wrong and...and he's a wreck, he's...shaking and...and mumbling and I think he's...he's going to do something stupid..."

As he came to a halt at Harry's side, Ron frowned deeply.

"Like what?" he asked as Harry finally gave up on the button and resorted to landing a frustrated kick at the door instead.

"I don't bloody know!" the dark haired wizard snapped, as at long last they heard the dinging sound that announced the lift's arrival and the doors slowly slid open again.

"I'm pretty sure Remus hasn't done anything stupid since the 90s." Ron recalled as they stepped inside and Harry began a fresh attack upon the button that was labeled Atrium. "What makes you think he'll start now?"

"Because!" Harry cried, eyes wide in fury at his friend's lack of panic. "You haven't seen him, Ron! He's...he's even more muddled than he was that time at Grimmauld!"

"Well yeah, but..."

"He's done something illegal!"

"In which case he's already done something stupid, it's a bit late for us to...wait...what?"

"I don't know what but...but I think it's bad. Very bad!"

"I told you Carrow-Smyth was murdered."

"RON!"

"Alright, alright! I was just kidding."

"I don't think this is a good time for just kidding, do you?"

"Well...no. You're right, it's not. Still though...bloody hell!"

Harry was about to shoot Ron another unimpressed look, only it was at that precise moment that the doors clicked open and the Deputy Head of Aurors made an run for the desk that he had first spotted Remus at that morning...

Only to come skidding to a halt at the sight before him.

Remus was stood, stock still some short distance from the desk, staring over at the witch who was stood leaning back against the wall between the two vast fireplaces opposite him, his expression distinctly dismayed.

And Tonks stared back at him, arms folded firmly across her chest as she waited for him to move...

Harry didn't want to wait.

"C'mon Ron!" he hissed as Ron caught up with him, and with only the briefest nod in Remus' direction the two Aurors made a beeline for the werewolf.

They grabbed an arm each as they passed, heading straight for the fireplace at Tonks' side. Remus stumbled along, seemingly too tired to struggle or protest. They bundled him into the fireplace and Tonks stepped after them without a word, reaching for a generous handful of floo power, and with that the four of them disappeared in a burst of emerald flames.

As he deposited Remus in a chair at his kitchen table a moment later, mumbling a reminder to Ron about where Ginny kept the teabags, Harry was already feeling the sense of panic beginning to dull. He watched Tonks drop into a chair at Remus' side, reaching to cup his face in her hands as she turned him to face her, dark eyes firm.

"This is what's best for you." Harry heard her whisper with a sniff, her eyes suddenly watery. "Now take a deep breath." she instructed, one hand reached to pin her husband's hands in his lap in an attempt to halt the trembling. "Because we're going to tell Harry and Ron everything."

When Remus attempted to shake his head, his mind so sluggish and fatigued that he could think to do little else, she leant forward to press a kiss to his brow as she promised:

"We're going to fix things. You and me, Harry and Ron."

But back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, some many hours previously in the dead of night, a similar vow had been made by a young Gryffindor who went by the name of Chester Burton:

We're going to fix things, Teddy. Me and you and Victoire.

And nobody at the school had caught a glimpse of the trio of children ever since.


	28. The Dream

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**28: The Dream**

"Lie down."

"Did you...did you see their faces? Merlin, it was...it was even worse than..."

"It's fine. It's over. Just lie down."

"It's not over though, is it Dora? It's...it's only just starting..."

"For the love of Merlin Remus, just lie down."

"Why?"

"Because...!" Dora Lupin bit her tongue, her grip upon her husband's arms tightening for a moment before she drew a calming breath and insisted:

"You're in a state, love, and you've got to teach this afternoon. So, just lie down for a bit, have a sleep and clear your head, alright? Harry's got everything covered, like he said."

"That's not what he said at all." Remus protested, sinking back upon the bed despite himself with a heavy sigh. "If I remember rightly, Ron said: What the bloody hell are we going to do? And then Harry said: I have absolutely no idea..."

"We'll think of something! Let's just...relax."

The werewolf laughed disbelievingly, reaching to swat her hand away from him as she reached to press it to his forehead.

"Don't fuss over me." he muttered disapprovingly, sighing again when she told him:

"I'm worried about you."

"You and everybody else, apparently."

"Exactly, love. You're...well..."

"I'm what?"

"Don't sound so defensive! All I'm saying is that it's not healthy or even remotely reasonable for somebody to be under as much pressure and stress as you have been these past few days. So lie still, shut up, and let the rest of us shoulder the burden for a little while, alright?"

She took his wary sigh as a yes, and for a glorious moment he was silent, only for recall:

"Ginny's going to be back with the children in an hour or so...and Harry will tell her everything...then she'll tell Hermione and Molly, and then..."

"Shut up, love."

"What in Merlin's name will they all think?"

"I'll tell you what they'll all think, Remus. They'll all think thank bloody Merlin we were right! You think that was disgust on Harry's face just then? No, it was relief! Shock, yes, but relief all the same!"

In all honesty, Tonks would have to admit that both Harry and Ron's relief to realise that her marriage wasn't in complete and utter ruins had only lasted a few seconds. It had all gone a bit downhill after that. First off, Ron had leant forward across the table, eyes wide as snitches as he cried:

"You what?"

Tonks had rather wanted to hex him. After all, it had taken Remus some five minutes or more to finally coax those three immortal words out of his mouth:

I kidnapped Elijah.

Tonks hadn't thought it at all fair to make him say them again.

"Remus took Elijah." she'd informed the two Aurors slowly, just in case Ron didn't quite understand. "He's been hiding him from the Ministry."

The questions after that had come in swift succession, each one a little louder and more agitated than the last.

"Why?"

"Because...it's what Artemis would have wanted."

"Why would you give a toss what Carrow-Smyth wanted?"

"Because...he's not quite the tosser you think he is, Ron."

"But...! Why?"

"Where's Elijah now?"

"What have you done with him?"

"How are you supposed to keep him hidden?"

"You're both bloody mental, did you know that?"

"Shut up." Tonks had demanded after a while, once Remus had sunk so low in his chair that she thought any more questions might lead him to fall straight off of it.

"But..."

"Do you want me to explain or not?"

At this, both wizards had sobered somewhat, Harry had even mumbled an apology and Tonks had relaid the past few weeks events to them. Once she had finished, there had been a very long, pained silence, before Ron had muttered:

"Well...you've really screwed this one up, haven't you?"

Tonks had been about to nod agreement, glad that they seemed to be reacting well, but then Harry had folded his hands upon the table before him and asked:

"How could you? How could you ask...how could you even consider asking Remus to...?"

Tonks hadn't really known what to say to this, so she'd stared guiltily down at her lap and mumbled:

"I'm a crap wife, that's how."

She'd glanced sideways at Remus to see what he thought of this conclusion, and felt a horrible sense of betrayal when he'd spoken for the first time in minutes.

"Exactly."

There had been a long, worried silence as Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and Tonks reminded herself that really, she deserved a cutting response like that after what she had done.

"Elijah can't stay this way," Remus had said, seemingly at last finding his voice properly. "Even if I wasn't found out, which I will be any time now, it isn't healthy for him to drink so many sleeping potions."

Harry and Ron had mumbled worriedly to one another for several minutes before Ron reached to drag a hand through his flaming red hair with a deep frown.

"What the bloody hell are we going to do?" he'd wondered aloud, and Harry had reached to pull the glasses from his face so that he could rub his eyes with his free hand, admitting:

"I have absolutely no idea."

Tonks had left the two of them to plot around the table so that she could drag Remus upstairs and attempt to make him rest, and once she had persuaded him to lie down upon the bed in the Potters' spare bedroom it suddenly occurred to her that despite it still being well before midday, she too felt utterly exhausted.

"Budge up." she instructed, and with a brief pause to kick off her boots in the direction of the opposite wall, she flopped down upon the bed beside the werewolf, heading coming to rest upon his chest to make running away entirely out of the question. It did not escape her notice that he did not move to put his arms around her.

"You're due at work." he mumbled sleepily, and she'd stubbornly reached to hug his arm to her chest with a muttered:

"Shut up."

And with that final instruction, she'd promptly dosed off to sleep.

It was dark. Cramped. He kept stepping on her toes.

It made her giggle.

"Shhhh!" he demanded as he pulled the door firmly shut behind them, locking it with a sharp tap of his wand upon the lock.

She obediently clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the laughter, only for him to ask:

"What're you doing? Not much use to me like that, are you? Where's my kiss, hmm?"

"Whoever said it was your kiss?" she asked him in a whisper as her hand dropped back to her side. "I might like to give it to somebody else instead!"

"Like who?" he asked incredulously, and she smirked at him through the darkness.

"Oh I don't know...Jonathan, maybe..."

"Who the bloody hell is Jonathan?"

"Wouldn't you like to know!"

"You don't even know anybody called Jonathan!"

"I might do..."

"You're a horrible, horrible tease! Come here and apologize..."

"No!"

"I said come here!"

"Never!"

"Want a bet? Stop squirming, I'm going to..."  
CRASH!

As he tumbled to the floor, having gotten a foot caught in a stray bucketful of water, she let out a shriek of laughter.

"SHIT!"

"SHHHHHHHH! You're going to wake half the castle!"

"ME wake half the castle?" he muttered furiously as he scrambled to his feet, clothes sodden from his encounter. "You're the one who's laughing like an absolute lunatic!"

By the time he had managed to disentangle himself from the rest of Mr. Filch's brooms, he found her stood leant back against the shelves, arms folded smugly across her chest.

"How many house points do you reckon this is going to cost us? " she asked as he straightened his jumper with a deep frown.

"Well," he said, having apparently regained enough dignity to step forward and slip his arms around her. "That would depend."

"On...?"

"On many things...whether or not we actually get caught, for one."

"And for another...?"

"On what we're caught doing."

There was a distinctly expectant pause before she informed him bluntly:

"Well I reckon it's only going to be about ten points, because I'm not going to shag you."

"You're not?"

"Merlin no! I'm not losing my virginity in a bloody broom cupboard...what sort of girl do you take me for? Besides, if I did you'd probably write every little detail down and send it to whatshisface in Germany, you know, like some sort of pornographic novel."

At this accusation, his grip upon her tightened in protest and he reached to sweep a strand of hair from her eyes.

"As if I would do something like that! If we...did it...it would be private! I'd not tell anybody about it! I'd certainly not...write it down! I mean...where the bloody hell did you get that idea from?"

"I don't know," she said, offering him a raised eyebrow. "Might have something to do with that letter you were writing to thingy last week, you know, the one that said you should see the size of my girlfriend's boobs, they're much bigger than your girlfriend's ones."

"That...that was a joke, obviously."

"Well it is now." she agreed, her eyes darting down towards the offending articles meaningfully, and he gave an irritated huff.

"You're overreacting you know, I mean...is it really worth changing yourself like that just to spite me?"

"Yes. It really is."

He puffed his cheeks in exasperation for a long moment, before reaching to pull her forward a step until she was pressed against him.

"Well you needn't have bothered." he told her, pausing to press a kiss to her lips. "I don't feel spited. I like you just the same."

"Good." she'd murmured, reaching to tangle her hands in his hair, and within moments she found herself pressed back against the shelves again, narrowly avoiding knocking a can of paint from it's perch as she did so. Something was digging into the small of her back, but she made no effort to move because she suddenly became preoccupied by the fingers that were slipping under the hem of her school jumper and pulling the shirt hem free from being tucked into her skirt, and by the time she had reached to fumble with the knot of his tie she had counted the bottom three buttons of her shirt being carefully undone. They'd paused in their breathless endeavor so that he could rush to pull his jumper over his head, tossing it to the floor and quite forgetting the puddle of water from the upturned bucket, and she'd had just a second to catch her breath before he'd caught her lips against his again, his hand creeping back under the hem of her jumper in search of more buttons.

"Take your jumper off." he murmured, drawing back ever so slightly so that he could grin at her, and though she sniggered, she shook her head.

"Nah..."

"Go on, do it..."

"Nope."

"Please?"

"No-ooo."

"Why not?"

"Because...that'll double, no triple the house points..."

"Since when did you give a toss about..."

"Besides, how would you feel if Filch were to burst through that door and see me stood here in just my bra?"

"Urgh..."

"Exactly."

"That's bloody disgusting!"

"I know. I'd be scarred for life."

"It's alright I'll just...you know..." He reached to fling his arms around her in mock-attempt to shield her from an imaginary caretaker's startled view, and she was forced to throw her arms around him in an attempt to keep her balance. They both dissolved into laughter until he sobered, reaching to straighten her jumper as he told her:

"You're right. Besides, it's a bit chilly in here, isn't it?"

"Mm." she agreed, swatting his hands away so that she could reach to pull the jumper up towards her middle instead, so that she could redo up the buttons that he had so carefully undone for her. He watched her in silence for a minute until she had straightened her jumper again and looked up to smile at him.

"I love you, you know." he told her, one hand smoothing her disheveled hair. "You're one in a million, I swear it. I'm so glad I told you...you know, how I felt."

"Me too." she said, positively beaming, and then he'd lent forward to kiss her again and before she knew it she was stumbling back against the shelves again, knocking over a couple of brooms to her left as he wrapped one arm securely around her to steady them, his free hand wandering slowly up her side from her hip, higher...higher...

She should tell him to stop in a second...

Because she could feel his fingertips pressed against the under-wiring of her bra through her jumper, and and any second now he was going to...

Now. Tell him to stop, now...

Or maybe not. Maybe she just wouldn't, just this once...

Because it felt rather nice, he felt nice...it made her feel a little light headed as if she were floating and his fingers grasping hopefully at the front of her jumper seemed to be sending some sort of electric shock straight through her that made her grip upon him tighten and her heart begin to race, and his breath was growing ragged and hot against her face when they came up for air and at that moment she felt panic, because if he were to ask her again, ask her to take off her jumper or ask her to do anything at all, sweet Merlin she was going to throw all caution to the wind and just do it. Sod sensibilities, he was right about house points, she didn't give a toss. Because it just felt wonderful and exciting and...and...

"Dora?"

And...  
"DORA!"

Tonks awoke with a jump, only to find herself sprawled across her husband's chest, arms still wrapped tightly around his arm as he attempted with little success to prise her fingernails from their relentless attack upon his forearm. The witch felt herself redden in embarrassment and she hastily withdrew her hands, revealing a neat line of fingernail shaped dents upon his skin.

"Nightmare, was it?" he guessed as she hastily sat bolt upright upon the bed, drawing in a couple of deep, calming breaths.

What in Merlin's name had she just been...

"Yes." she decided hurriedly, nodding her head resolutely. "It was just a nightmare."

He reached to put a comforting hand upon her arm, thumb scuffing her disheveled robes soothingly for a moment before he told her:

"I ought get up in a minute, if I'm to make it back to Hogwarts in good time."

He sounded genuinely calm at long last, and she wondered just how long she had had him pinned to the bed to make him finally see the light. She flopped back down upon the bed beside him, gazing up at the ceiling as her heartbeat finally began to slow to a more natural speed.

"Remus?"

"Hm?"

She drew a deep, hopeful breath before asking:

"D'you think dreams are...meaningful? I mean...if we dream something, do we dream it for a reason? Or are they just...totally random?"

He was thoughtful for a long moment before musing:

"Both...I think it probably depends upon the dream. Why? What did you dream?"

Tonks swallowed the guilty lump that immediately formed in her throat.

"Nothing..." she mumbled with a deep frown. "It was just...being at Hogwarts."

"Hm..." he reached to rub the sleep from his eyes before guessing: "And Artemis was there."

It wasn't a question, she noted. It made her stomach clench.

"How'd you know that?"

"Legimency." He offered her a raised eyebrow, leaving her to squirm for a long moment before admitting: "Either that or you were talking in your sleep."

Tonks instantly wished that the mattress beneath them would swallow her whole.

"What...did I...I mean..."

"What did you say?"

"Yeah."

"Not a great number of words, to be honest." he admitted enigmatically, and with that he yawned widely and sat up. "If you want a meaningful reading of that...well...I'd say you miss him."

She immediately shook her head.

"I don't." she insisted, leaning to rest her forehead against his back, smoothing the creased from his jumper. "Honestly..."

"It's alright. I miss the spiteful bastard too."

"You do?"

"Oh yes, absolutely. Life was much more simple with him around."

As she watched him shuffled to the bottom of the bed and get to his feet, Tonks pursed her lips together guiltily. Casting her mind back to the dream that she had just been awoken from, she mentally cringed at the thought of what she might have said aloud...

"It was just a dream." she decided as he set about stepping into his shoes and stooping to tie the laces. "I...I don't think it meant anything."

"I expect you're right." he agreed, glancing up at her with a small smile, but she didn't feel terribly reassured.

She desperately thought of the conversation that she and Artemis had had in the broom cupboard. It had certainly not been entirely part of her imagination, rather a recollection. As much as she liked to pretend otherwise, the two of them had had a number of foolish encounters in some of Hogwarts' more secluded and cramped spots...

Tonks frowned in consideration as she mentally skipped past the part about her boobs...

Wait!

Back a bit...what was it that she had said?

She wasn't going to shag him because...

Because of house points and something else...because he might tell...

"Whatshisface in Germany!"

At her sudden, triumphant exclamation, her husband paused in his adjustment of one of his socks to offer her a look that strongly suggested that he doubted her sanity.

"Whathisface...?"

"Yes! Whathisface in Germany! That's it, Remus!"

Remus straightened up, expression entirely unenlightened.

Tonks scrambled off the bed and practically bounced to her feet, eyes wide as she recalled:

"I said to him I'm not going to shag you because you might write to Whathisface in Germany and tell him all about it! Or...or...something..." she trailed off into awkward silence at the realization that really, that hadn't quite been the part of the recollection that she had wanted to pass on to her husband, of all people.

Remus' expression remained impressively unchanged. Tonks was eternally grateful, and she hurriedly recalled:

"Artemis had relatives living in Germany! His cousin...what was his name? They used to write to one another when Artemis was at Hogwarts! We were wrong, Elijah has got other relatives!" She hurriedly reached to snatch up her boots, yanking them onto her feet as she announced: "I'm going to go and tell Harry and Ron! Maybe we can...can contact them or...or something..."

Remus opened his mouth to agree, only for a insistent tapping sound to draw his attention to the window beside him.

A small owl with ruffled brown feathers appeared to be hopping impatiently up and down upon the window sill. Remus reached to push the window open and the bird fluttered inside, offering it's leg to the werewolf, upon which was attached a letter.

"It's for you." Remus observed once he had untied the note and looked down at the name upon the front. Turning it over he spotted the printed coat of arms upon the back and added: "It's from Hogwarts."

"Open it." Tonks suggested as she set about tying her own laces, and once Remus had extracted the letter and was unfolding it, she asked: "What does it say?"

"Dear Mrs. Lupin," Remus read aloud with a frown. "I am writing to you on behalf of the Head of Gryffindow House, Professor Lupin, who is unavailable at this time...to inform you that your son, Theodore Lupin has..." he trailed off into silence, eyes widening in alarm as he stared down at the next few lines.

"What?" Tonks asked, straightening up and hurrying to peer down at the letter too. "What is it? What's Teddy done now?"

"...has gone missing from the castle, along with fellow Gryffindor students Chester Burton and Victoire Weasley..."

"What?"

"...I would like to assure you that we are making every effort to locate them at this time. A full search of the school grounds is currently in progress and an announcement has been made to the rest of the school body asking for any information on your son's whereabouts..."

"Oh Merlin..."

"...Theodore was last seen at approximately midnight by the students who share his dormitory, and as such we are confident that both he and Mr. Burton and Miss Weasley have not gone far..."

"They could be bloody anywhere by now!"

"We shall endeavor to keep you updated on our search and would like to ask you not to panic..."

"Has he got the Map? Did you give him the bloody Map, Remus? Because I SWEAR...!"

"Best Wishes, Minerva McGonnogal, Headmistress."

Both parents exchanged a worried look.

"What in Merlin's name are they up to?" Remus wondered aloud, and Tonks told him:

"We better get over there and figure it out, hadn't we?"


	29. A Challenging Mix

_Note: I plan on completing this story within about 2 chapters. Yes, that's right...it will be COMPLETED._

_It's been pointed out to me that the last time I updated this story was in May...unforgivable of me, I know! I'm terribly sorry for the absurdly long wait!_

_This (stupidly short...sorry) chapter is dedicated to , **TonksSmiles** and **the frozen cherry**, who are responsible for jointly guilt tripping me into updating at long last! _

_Anyway, at long last, on with the show..._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**29: A Challenging Mix**

As she watched Tobias Budden turn and stride off down the corridor, having just been informed by the professor that there was still no sign of her son, nor his fellow missing students, Tonks turned back to where her husband was sat upon a deep window ledge. He had been staring at her, she saw, but hurriedly dropped his gaze to his shoes when she met his gaze, a deep frown creasing his brow. She tried to ignore the fact that his staring made her feel a little uneasy, tried not to wonder what he had been thinking...

Because obviously it had been about Teddy and the others, wondering where they were...

It hadn't a thing to do with her. It hadn't a thing to do with them, their marriage or anything of the sort...

Obviously.

The Auror swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

"I guess we should start looking, then..." she murmured rather uncertainly, and Remus continued a detailed contemplation of the stone floor beneath his feet for a long moment before agreeing:

"Mm." He got heavily to his feet, before deciding: "I'll check his dormitory, see if there's anything missing from his trunk."

As he turned and set off at a brisk pace up the corridor, Tonks hurried after him.

"I'll come with you." she told him...was that sigh aimed at her? No...of course not. "I mean...I packed his trunk with him, you know...so I'll know if something isn't there."

They walked up to Gryffindor Tower in what Tonks couldn't help but feel was a rather awkward silence, and it was not until they had reached Teddy's dormitory and Remus had set about emptying the contents of the trunk out onto the floor, leaving the witch to perch upon the edge of their son's bed, that Tonks finally admitted:

"I have a problem. A...a serious one."

Remus offered her a fleeting glance, eyebrow raised before he reached to extract a stack of textbooks from the trunk.

"Missing child...yes, I'd say that was a bit of a problem too."

"I'm not talking about Teddy." she said, reaching to tug wearily at a strand of hair. "Or I am...but..." she sighed heavily, screwing her eyes shut for a moment before murmuring: "Our son...our little boy...our Teddy has disappeared, he could be anywhere, anything might've happened to him and I ought be worried sick, I ought be frantic at the mere thought..." she trailed off, burying her face in her hands with a heavy sigh. "Except I'm not." she confessed, shaking her head. "I'm not frantic, I'm not panicking, I...I'm barely even thinking about it...I'm much too preoccupied...with us." Her hands dropped dejectedly into her lap as she looked down to gage his reaction to her confession, and he paused, staring into the trunk before getting slowly to his feet. He reached to grasp hold of her by the hands and she allowed him to pull her carefully up from the bed.

"Concentrate on Ted." he insisted, reaching to smooth her hair soothingly as she stared up at him somewhat blankly, and she felt fleeting relief when he leant to press a brief kiss to her lips. Despite herself, she reached to fling her arms around his neck, grip akin to a stranglehold and he stumbled back a little, hands coming to rest upon her hips to steady her.

She kissed him until they were both out of air, until he frowned a little at her sudden enthusiasm and until her lips grew dry, before drawing back from him reluctantly and he instantly released her and turned towards the door.

"The Marauders' Map is missing." he announced, reaching to draw his wand and sending the scattered items all flying back into the trunk with a wide sweeping gesture. "And Ted's school cloak. they probably left the castle, we should check the grounds."

As he led the way back down the tower staircase, Tonks wandered after him. They reached the bottom of the steps just in time to see the portrait hole open to reveal Minerva McGonnogal, and at the sight of them the Headmistress let out a small sigh of relief.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, hurrying forward, expression stern. "For Merlin's sake, Remus! Where have you been all morning? Is this a full-time position I'm paying you for or have you decided to go part-time?"

"Still no sign of the children?" Remus asked, ignoring her question much to her obvious annoyance, but her expression softened a little as she admitted:

"Not yet, I'm afraid. You've not heard anything from Teddy, have you?"

"Not a word." Remus admitted, continuing past her towards the door. "But Teddy's cloak is missing. I expect they ventured outside somewhere, we should probably check the grounds more thoroughly."

"Very well then," the Headmistress agreed, turning on her heel and setting off after him. "Perhaps I shall head for the forest, the centaurs may have seen something."

"Good idea." Remus agreed, reaching to push the portrait hole open again. "Take Tonks with you."

Tonks froze as the Headmistress paused to look round at her, and as the portrait hole swung shut again behind the werewolf, the Auror felt despair strike her like a club to the chest.

"Don't panic, Tonks!" McGonnogal instructed briskly as she too made for the exit. "We'll find them, I'm sure! They're sensible children...well...Teddy and Victoire are at the very least..." she paused at the door to glance round at the younger witch, only to find that Tonks had made no move to follow her. The Auror's gaze had grown glazed, face pale. McGonnogal squinted over at her rather worriedly. "Tonks...are you coming? What is it?"

Tonks managed to offer the Headmistress a strained smile.

"Oh nothing," she murmured, giving herself a little shake. "I was just thinking...Remus hasn't called me Tonks for Merlin knows how many years!" She gave a mechanical little chuckle that she meant to sound fond, only to ruin the effect somewhat as she observed a little too loudly under her breath: "I'm losing him." And with that she strode past McGonnogal and out of the doorway.

The two witches made their way through the castle in silence for some while until Tonks felt compelled to make some form of conversation, for her last muttering had left the atmosphere thick and she was convinced she might very well choke on it.

"I have to admit," the Auror announced as they strode down the grand marble staircase towards the main doors, "I had rather hoped that Teddy might end up more like his dad and less prone to misbehaving like me. It would have been nice, for sanity's sake."

"I'm afraid it's a whole lot more worse than that." the Headmistress said, oddly despairing and amused all at once. "Teddy is a lot like you, but he's a lot like his father too. It makes for a challenging mix: a persistent rule-breaker who cares about being caught! They're the worst kind, they go to great lengths not to be caught and when they are it's like hexing a puppy."

"Merlin..." Tonks chuckled, mood brightening at this unusually damning description of her offspring's nature, "I hadn't really thought of that!"

"He's a bright boy." McGonnogal praised, but Tonks observed:

"I don't suspect that helps matters at all."

As together they pushed one vast door open and stepped outside into the chilly afternoon air, the older witch was forced to admit:

"Indeed it does not."

Despite the sun still hanging in the sky, they were forced to light their wands as they passed into the dense and sprawling mass of trees, and the darkness immediately left Tonks' spirits to plummet further towards her boots. After a long while talk inevitably turned to what the children were up to, what reasons they might have for running away from school, and Tonks felt quite relieved that they did not linger on the fire and what had happened to Artemis.

"If Teddy were missing on his own, perhaps that might make some sort of sense." McGonnogal was just saying as they squinted through the darkness in front of them. "But I can't imagine him inviting the other two along...perhaps they have some sort of misbehavior planned."

"I don't think Ted's much up for that sort of thing just now..." Tonks mumbled, only to trail off at the sight of a familiar, bright silver light streaking through the trees behind them...

And so it was that Remus requested his wife meet him by the Whomping Willow.

Tonks ran full pelt back through the forest, silently cursing the anti-apparation charms.

She found him waiting for her just out of the wild tree's gnarled reach, his cloak drawn tightly around him as he watched her approach. Coming to a breathless halt in front of him, she made to grasp hold of his arms anxiously, only to think better of the movement, settling on asking:

"What is it? What have you seen?"

Remus glanced meaningfully over his shoulder towards the flailing tree, before informing his wife:

"We ought keep a better eye on that little boy of ours. Because he's not very little and his ideas aren't either."

Tonks' eyes merely widened impatiently, only for the werewolf to smile weakly.

"We've been outdone by a trio of school children." he elaborated non-too helpfully, and with that he turned back towards the tree and, with a flick of his wand, sent a flash of light streaking low across the ground, striking the tree's roots and quite suddenly the Whomping Willow was as still as a statue. Beckoning Tonks to follow him with a nod, Remus led the way towards the hidden entrance to the Shrieking Shack.

One damp tunnel, several battered corridors, a rickety staircase and a dim landing later, Tonks followed him through the doorway into the shabby remnants of a large bedroom, where she was relieved to be greeted by four familiar looking figures...

One distinctly sheepish Chester Burton, a fiercely determined Victoire Weasley...

And two identical Elijah Bensons.

Tonks simply stared.

"Sweet Merlin, Remus," the mousy haired witch finally breathed as the werewolf leant back against the wall and folded his arms firmly across his chest. "That's bloody genius..."


	30. Broken

_Note: Written at the end of possibly the worst day of my year thus far. Hence the angst! Sorry about that everybody..._

_I rather fell in love with the idea of the letters. I hope I've still managed to make the plot clear...not really sure how successful I've been!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**30: Broken**

_Remus, _

_Won't be home until ten tonight – I'm going over to finish off some of Ron's paperwork for him at his house whilst he makes enquires with the German Ministry. _

_Keep an eye on Teddy and the other two, won't you? I hope Chester can keep his mouth shut for once in his life. Are you quite sure Minerva believed you when you told her they were trying to sneak back from Hogsmeade when you found them? I think she might be more angry with you than she is with the children since you've been away from Hogwarts so much recently. Here's hoping she doesn't give you too much grief, Sweetheart._

_Love,_

_Dora_

_Remus,_

_No news from Ron yet, he won't be at the Ministry until this afternoon. I'm not hopeful – if he had much news I expect he would have owled me. Or you. Did he owl you?_

_Will you be home this evening or are you still on patrol duty?_

_Much love,_

_Dora_

_Love,_

_The roof's leaking again – would you pop home at lunch and sort it out? You remember as well as I do what happened last time you left it to me._

_I miss you._

_X_

_Remus,_

_I'd say thanks for sending Arthur round, but in all honesty you have me worried. You've not been home for days. And don't think I didn't notice the missing clothes from the wardrobe – I'm not blind you know. Did you fetch them yourself or did Arthur get them for you? I hope you didn't ask him – what in Merlin's name would he think? Molly would get it out of him too, you know she would. If you want a day or two to yourself that's perfectly fine, but let's not cause a scene for the whole family to gossip about. They think badly enough of me already._

_Dora._

_PS. Perhaps that's what you want._

_Remus,_

_Ron's found them. It's only a matter of time now._

_Mum knows something. She came round this morning, she kept asking after you and I couldn't get rid of her. I don't know what to tell her, I don't know what to tell anybody, least of all myself._

_What I said yesterday – I'm not right, am I? You're not doing this to simply make me look awful, are you? You know how dreadful I feel about what's happened, don't you? I'm perfectly capable of making myself look and feel bad all on my own, I don't need your help you know. _

_The Wizengamot are extending my suspension due to "complex circumstance." I don't think I can stand it, I'm climbing the walls as it is._

_For the love of Merlin Remus, come home. It's been days, but it feels like a lifetime and I miss you so dreadfully. I'd floo over and drag you back myself if I had the nerve. But I don't. I don't have the nerve, the strength or the confidence. In fact I'm not sure I have anything much anymore. You've broken me, my love._

_Dora _

Teddy Lupin simply stared in dismay, a sickening twisting sensation gripping ahold of his insides and twisting them into fearful knots.

It had been six days since his parents had frog-marched him, along with Chester and Victoire, out of the Shrieking Shack and back to Gryffindor Tower. Six days since his parents had bombarded him with an odd mix of scolding and praise before promptly stealing his friends' Master Plan as their own.

It had also been six days since his father had last set eyes upon his mother. Five days since their unnaturally tentative hug goodbye...

It had been five days since Harry had smuggled Elijah out of the Shrieking Shack and off to a location that Teddy was forbidden to know about.

Five days since his mother had started to send regular owls to his father. And five days since his father had seemingly been verging on ignoring them.

Four days since Teddy had caught sight of Mr. Filch dragging a familiar looking trunk along the corridor towards his father's office and the Defence teacher's living quarters that had not been slept in for a number of years.

Fifteen minutes since Teddy had barged into the newly occupied bedroom to discover his father nowhere to be seen.

Fourteen minutes since he had found the letters littering the bedside table.

Nine minutes since he had finished reading them.

Thirty seconds since he had finished rereading them. Twice.

Teddy was just making an effort to remind himself that he was beginning to get much too old to curl up upon his father's bed and sob like an infant when he heard the door behind him opening and he spun around just in time to see Remus step across the threshold. As the werewolf reached to push the door shut behind him, he told his son:

"I've been searching high and low for you. I was beginning to think you'd run off again..." he trailed off as he turned to spot the displaced letters at Teddy's side and his eyes immediately narrowed.

"Have you been reading my letters?"

"No..." Teddy answered much too quickly, and yet as Remus raised an eyebrow the young Gryffindor found that he was suprisingly unabashed to be caught, for he promptly asked: "Have _you_ been reading your letters?"

When Remus' face contorted in a mixture of despair and anger, Teddy felt rather furious himself as he accused:

"Have you left Mum?"

For a moment, Remus looked quite stunned.

"Don't be ridiculous, Theodore." he muttered when he finally found his voice, striding over and scooping up the pile of letters. As Teddy watched him shove them unceremoniously into the drawer below, he gave his foot a furious little stamp.

"Well what's this, then?" he asked as Remus pushed the drawer shut and set about shrugging off his robes, walking to the wardrobe to hang them up. "What're you doing packing a trunk and...and staying here at night? That's...that's leaving, isn't it?"

"Leaving and spending a few nights away are two entirely different things, Ted." Remus said, sounding unnaturally short-tempered, but Teddy barely noticed, he was much too upset.

"Go home, Dad!" the boy cried, throwing his hands up in the air, his eyes widening pleadingly. "Right now! Go home!" When he was offered an utterly incredulous expression for attempting to give out orders, Teddy was forced to add a rather feeble: "Please?"

As he set about hanging up the robes, Remus was silent for a long moment, apparently suppressing the urge to lose his temper.

"Listen to me, Teddy," he said at last as he pushed the wardrobe door shut and turned around to regard his son seriously. "What goes on between your mother and I is entirely down to us. It may well affect you, but nevertheless it's our marriage, our relationship, our ups and downs and therefore you stay well clear of it. You being nosy and purposefully getting yourselves caught up in the middle of us is going to do nobody any favours. You have no idea about marriage or being in love. Don't tell me to go home or do anything for that matter when you can't possibly understand the situation that we're in."

Teddy felt his cheeks warming and for a long moment he eyed his shoes thoughtfully.

"Will you tell me one thing?" he asked, biting his lip a little as he finally dared look up at his father again. "Do you...do you still love her?"

To his surprise, Remus' lips twitched towards a sad smile.

"I always will, Teddy." the werewolf murmured, reaching to rake a hand through his silvery hair. "More than life itself. That's what makes things complicated. You'll understand one day."

Before Teddy could say another word, the werewolf had reached into his pocket and drawn out a neatly folded sheet of parchment, and as he set about unfolding it, Remus said: "I've had an owl from Harry. Ron's finally managed to get hold of Elijah's relatives in Germany. They've agreed to take him in."

"That's good." Teddy murmured blandly, and Remus sounded equally as non-plussed as he agreed:

"Yes, it is." The professor gazed down at the letter for a long moment, before heaving a sigh. "I expect they'll move him first thing in the morning."

"And at the same time Mum'll morph into Elijah and get herself caught and banged up in St. Mungo's?"

"That's the plan."

Teddy gave a irritated sniff. He had been quite proud of his and his friends' plans to trick the Ministry of Magic into believing that Elijah had simply wandered off of his own accord and had been wandering the streets of London for the past few days. The notion of a kidnapping would soon be forgotten, especially once Elijah would abruptly disappear from St. Mungo's after an hour or two, supposedly off on another little wander. It would throw the Ministry completely off track.

"You make it sound like it was your plan!" he grumbled. "I still don't see why Mum has to do it. I could've done it just as well...better, even!"

"Oh really?" Remus turned to the small fire that was crackling in the grate to their right, throwing Harry's letter into the flames. As the parchment curled and crackled, he turned back to fix his son with a disbelieving raised eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

Teddy felt his cheeks warming a little and he shifted his feet, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I dunno..." he mumbled. "Mum's...too busy..."

Remus gave a disbelieving snort.

"On the contrary, your mother has more spare time on her hands right now than she knows what to do with." he shot the bedside table a meaningful glance as he added: "As you well know."

Teddy chewed his lip self-consciously for a moment, before deciding to ignore this last comment.

"That's not what I meant," he said, dropping down to perch upon the edge of Remus' bed. "Mum's...preoccupied. Unfocused. In fact I'm glad the Wizengamot extended her suspension, aren't you?"

"She'd be better off at work, I suspect."

"She'd be awful at work right now! She'd get herself hurt or killed or...or something..."

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps? For Merlin's sake, Dad! Don't you care?"

"Not particularly, Ted. After all, she _isn't_ at work..."

"I don't mean it like that! I mean don't you care about...about MUM?"

"Of course I care..."

"Well then! Why won't you go home? If you care that she's in such a state, why won't you go to her?"

"I believe we're straying back to those things you can't understand..."

"Well explain it to me, then! Explain to me why you've left home, Dad! Explain to me why you won't go back, even when you've reduced Mum to a complete and utter wreck..." Teddy halted abruptly at a sudden scraping sound, and he jumped a little when the armchair set beside the window came scuffing across the stone floor, until it came to a half just before him.

Remus sat down, hands arranged carefully in his lap. After a sizeable pause, he leant forward a little in his seat and fixed Teddy with a firm stare.

"Let me point out the first thing that you don't understand, Ted." he said, voice so grave that Teddy shuffled back upon the bed so that he could draw his knees up towards his chest, hugging them tightly. "I am not solely responsible for the state that your mother is in right now. For half of it at the very least she has nobody to blame except herself. Another thing that you don't understand is that it doesn't matter how much she's hurting or whether or not I care. Me going home wouldn't make things any better. Not yet."

Teddy felt the beginnings of tears prickling at his eyes and he hastily blinked them away, shaking his head.

"Yes it would...you...you'd make her...you'd make her better...tell her...tell her everything's going to be alright, that you're not angry with her...because you're not! You can't be, not when she's so sorry!"

"It's not just a matter of being sorry, Ted."

"She's more than sorry, she's devastated!" Teddy cried, eyes widening in frustration, and he felt utterly appalled to see Remus' gaze to fall to the hands in his lap, lips curving into a smile. "What's there to smile about, Dad?" the boy asked, staring at his father in bewilderment, and he felt more bewildered too when Remus merely shook his head and admitted:

"Devastation can seem to be a glorious thing, if one can be entirely honest with themselves."

"No it can't." Teddy snapped, but Remus only smiled more.

"Not to you, no." the werewolf agreed. "Because you aren't being honest. We're not saints, Teddy, not a single one of us. If we're honest we'll all admit that on occasion the misfortunes or pains of others brings us pleasure. The German's have a word for it: _Schadenfreude, _ _schaden _meaning harm, and _freude_ meaning joy."

Teddy felt quite stunned

"Mum being upset makes you happy?" he finally asked rather hesitantly, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"Of course not, I'd much rather her life were all sunshine and rainbows, Ted. But it isn't. She's upset, she feels guilty and she misses me. Show me a man who can't derive at least a shred of pleasure from the fact that his wife loves him enough to feel so utterly low, and I'll eat the Sorting Hat."

For a long moment, Teddy simply stared at the werewolf, brow crinkling in disapproval.

"That's horrible." he announced at last, only for Remus to insist:

"That's human nature."

Teddy took another long moment to digest this frank piece of information before he asked:

"So...what are you going to do? Stick around here until she totally loses it because it'll make you feel better or something?"

Remus let out a rather dark chuckle.

"I can assure you that sitting here and waiting for your mother to _lose it_, as you put it, would bring me absolutely no pleasure at all. I'm not staying here because I want to make her feel wretched, Ted. I'm staying here because I want to make _myself_ feel a little _less_ wretched."

Again, there was a long pause as Teddy frowned down at his feet, before he concluded:

"I don't think I ever want to fall in love or get married, Dad. It all sounds utterly silly and ridiculous if you ask me."

This time, Remus' chuckle was genuinely amused.

"Perhaps your right, Ted!" he said with a grin. "After all, they say love makes fools of the lot of us."

"Well it won't to me." Teddy muttered, and Remus reached to run a hand across his face, seemingly wiping the amusement clear form it.

"The thing is, Teddy," he began slowly, "your mother...your mother has done a very hurtful thing to me...very hurtful, and I can't honestly say that I've forgiven her for it."

Teddy felt as if he had been punched in the stomach, and he drew a deep breath to protest, only for Remus to hold up a hand to silence him.

"But that makes me feel wretched." the werewolf admitted, sinking back into his chair with a sigh. "Utterly wretched. There's nothing more awful than thinking badly of the person you love, Ted. Because you want more than anything to forget it, to let it be water under the bridge, you don't want to hold a grudge or make them feel any more dreadful than they already do. But the problem is...sometimes you feel so very hurt that simply being forgiving isn't that easy. And that's why I'm here, Teddy. Because I'll do more harm than good at home, more harm than being away will do. I don't trust myself to be around your mother, not until I am sure I can forgive her. I don't want to make her feel resented or...or I don't want to end up saying things I'll regret. I don't want her to know how I'm feeling or what I'm thinking. And I don't want her to provoke me into doing anything foolish, either. I want a nice, clear thinking head and I don't want to act or pretend because I know she's watching me, she can read me like a book and it'll be a hurtful read to say the least. I simply need to be away from her. For both our sakes. Do you understand?"

Teddy turned this explanation around in his head a couple of times before sighing heavily and wondering:

"How long?'

And Remus frowned deeply and decided:

"As long as it takes."

Teddy leant to bury his face in his knees.

"Mum's broken you and you've broken Mum." he observed wearily into his faded denim jeans. "And I think you'll both break me."

"Patience, Ted." Remus murmured, reaching to lay a comforting hand upon the boy's shoulder. "That's all you need. Besides, nobody's hit rock bottom yet..."

It was at that precise moment that there came a loud knock upon the door, before it was opened without invitation to reveal a rather flustered looking Harry Potter.

Teddy straightened up and hastily wiped at his watery eyes, but Harry didn't seem to notice him as he strode into the room, coming to an abrupt half and pointing an accusing finger at Remus' chest.

"You need to go home!" the Deputy Head of Aurors announced firmly, eying the werewolf challengingly through his rounded glasses. "Immediately!"

Remus sunk back in his chair again, gaze drifting wearily up towards the stone ceiling.

"Harry..." he began to protest, but Harry shook his head.

"I mean it, Remus, you have to!" the dark haired wizard insisted. "If you don't go home and fix things the entire plan for the morning is going down the drain!"

Remus' gaze dropped from the ceiling to fix his former student with a deep frown.

"That's...a rather desperate and cruel choice of blackmail..." he observed, only for Harry to shake his head again.

"I'm not trying to blackmail anybody!" Harry cried, throwing his hands up in frustration. "I mean it LITERALLY!"  
"What are you talking about?" Remus asked, yet more bemused than ever, and Harry appeared to bite his tongue in exasperation for a moment before informing the werewolf:  
"It's Tonks, I've just been over to see her. If you don't go home and sort things out the plan's never going to work."

"Why not?"

At long last, the frustration faded from Harry face, only to be replaced by a deeply despairing look as he admitted:

"She's having trouble morphing."


	31. Once Again With Feeling

_Note: Epic Angst, Super Fluff, a random flashback and probably a little sprinkling of cheese...consider yourselves WARNED!_

_This was a terribly tricky chapter to write and I have no idea if it is any good or meets any expectations that anybody may have for it. I hope you are not at all disappointed! _

_This chapter is dedicated to **Natalie**, with a promise that I will update Snatch & Grab as soon as possible! And to **PoppiiD**, with the same promise regarding Meet the Animagus! Don't panic, I'm doing the rounds, I'm just updating this story twice because we are so near the end! Any Meet the... fans who are dying of boredom can check out **Meet the Malfoys** – the first ever Meet the... one-shot! I also have another new story (since this one is almost over and I'm stupid enough to still have 3 or more 'fics on the go at once!) which is called **Blood Magic**._

_Shameless advertising of 'fics over with, on with the show!_

**31: Once Again, With Feeling**

There were a great many different ways that Remus Lupin envisaged the approaching moments of his life playing out, each one more unlikely and more deluded than the last.

First there had been the absurdly hopeful:

Maybe: I knew you'd show up eventually, she'd say, you really are an idiot, running away like that...

Perhaps: Nice hair, he'd mumble, and she'd slap him rebukingly on the arm and grumble: Git!

Or: Don't say anything, she'd insist the moment he opened his mouth to talk, and there would be hugs and kisses and it would magically all seem better and he'd wonder what all the fuss was about.

Then there had been the other end of the scale that was strangely appealing:

Possibly a mild stinging jinx.

Perhaps a slap about the face that would probably be equally as painful and make him stagger a little.

Or something in between; she might fling her wand at him instead. It might poke him in the eye and blind him for a few glorious seconds and he'd feel mighty glad because he wouldn't have to look at her, and quite frankly he felt he might deserve to suffer physically.

Just in case the mental trauma wasn't quite bad enough.

After that final, utterly ridiculous thought, his imaginings had grown steadily more fantastical and were just beginning to border on the downright bizarre when Remus realised that he had been stood upon the doorstep for what was bordering on half an hour.

Merlin, the werewolf thought as he reached to straighten his robes, rocking back on his heels apprehensively, what if she'd spotted him out of the window? Just stood, staring blankly at the door...

He chanced a nervous glance sideways towards the window, half expecting to spot a wide-eyed face pressed to the glass, and was briefly startled by the pot plant that was sat in its place.

The wizard reached to rake a hand through his hair, a despairing chuckle rising in his throat at his wrecked nerves, before drawing in a deep, determined breath and reaching for the door handle.

The hallway seemed unnaturally grey and gloomy, the wallpaper and ceiling around the kitchen door discoloured by smoke from the fire. The door itself had been removed entirely, and the kitchen itself barely resembled a kitchen at all. The majority of the charred and battered countertops had been removed and some attempts had been made to scrub the soot and ash from the floor. In the far corner, somebody had replaced the fridge with a new one...

That hadn't been there, last time he had been home...

Somebody really ought do something about replacing everything else, he mused as he took a couple of cautious, creeping steps into the room, frowning deeply. He and Dora would have to talk about it...

He very nearly chuckled again, then.

As if he and Dora were about to talk about anything, let alone the kitchen!

Except they needed to talk. They had to talk...

He shuffled round to face the living room door, which had been left ajar, and he felt an odd sense of foreboding at just how alike it seemed to the morning he had discovered Carrow-Smyth and Dora upon the sofa. He found himself holding his breath as he reached to push the door open a little so that he could peer inside. A blanket had been abandoned upon the sofa and the coffee table was strewn with parchment, paperwork and a empty ink bottle. Dora was nowhere to be seen. Remus stepped into the room and padded carefully across the carpet, pausing to glance down at the papers upon the table. Bills, letters from Gringotts, pay slips and the large leather bound ledger in which they carefully accounted for their earnings and expenses. The werewolf frowned down at the book, the cost of his wife's misdemeanour at work along with her reduced pay staring grimly back up at him...

What a mess, he thought to himself dismally, and to think that was the very least of it...

As he sunk down onto the sofa, gazing blankly at the book, Remus found himself wishing for a time turner, wishing they could start again; back before Carrow-Smyth's death, back before the Ministry interfering in their lives, back before the Child and the prophecy...

And why stop there? Why not wish to back track a little more?

Because Remus felt utterly wretched, low enough to want to take back a whole range of things over the years where he and Dora were concerned, from the major to the down right insignificant.

He wished he'd not gotten so over-excited at the prospect of his first job in years, when Minerva had written to ask him to return to teach at Hogwarts. He wished he hadn't written back on the spot and agreed to take it. He wished he'd waited for Dora to arrive home from work so that they could discuss it first. It didn't matter how pleased she'd been, that wasn't the point...

He wished he hadn't spent a good few years resenting her steady climb up the ranks at Auror Headquarters whilst he had been stuck back at home, left holding the baby. Because she'd probably noticed. He wished he'd admitted to himself at the time just how he felt. Because then he might have told himself to snap out of it and stop being such a pathetic and selfish tosser.

He wished he hadn't been such a prat and done a runner when she was pregnant. Merlin, how he wished he could take that back!

He wished that when she had finally plucked up the courage to admit the existence of their fast approaching little bundle of joy, he hadn't looked so utterly horrified.

He wished he hadn't demanded: _Get rid of it!_

And when she had attempted to reason with him, Remus fervently wished that he had kept his mouth shut and failed to argue with her.

He wished he hadn't ruined what ought to have been one of the most wonderful and happy moments of their married life.

He wished he hadn't proposed to her in such a sudden and almost whimsical manner. He wished he'd planned something nice, something memorable. He wished the event hadn't been so over-shadowed by Dumbledore's death mere hours beforehand.

He wished he hadn't ignored her letters whilst he'd been away with the werewolf pack. He wished he hadn't reduced her to such a miserable state...just as he had again now.

He wished he hadn't snapped so often at Sirius whenever he made comments about their relationship. He wished he'd had the confidence to grin broadly and be proud of himself, and not so utterly ashamed.

Even their first date had left much to be desired, Remus thought miserably as he reached to rub a weary hand across his eyes. He wished that had been better, too. He wished they hadn't started off the conversation with a near-on row about whether or not they were technically on a date or not, or if they were just there as friends. He wished he'd thrown all caution to the wind and kissed her on her doorstep when he'd walked her home.

Now he thought about it, Remus mused as he heaved a sigh, things had been going wrong since...well...the beginning! What he wouldn't give to start it all again...

He rose reluctantly to his feet and shuffled back out into the hallway, before setting off up the staircase at a snail's pace, heart thudding dully in his chest as he reached the landing above and turned to find the door to the master bedroom wide open.

Dora was lying upon the bed, seemingly fast asleep, a head of disarrayed mousy hair fanned out upon the pillow about her head. Abandoned atop the duvet beside her was a heavy leather bound book, and as he crept cautiously across the room, a closer look led Remus to identify it as one of the aged Defence Against the Dark Arts books that Alastor Moody had left, along with several trunkfuls of other belongings, to Dora in his will. Remus reached to pick up the tome, gazing down at the faded lettering upon the cover before setting it down upon the bedside table. He turned back to gaze down at the sleeping witch, a fresh lump forming in his throat.

Sweet Merlin, he'd missed her!

Without surprisingly little thought, the werewolf crept round to the other side of the bed, kicked off his shoes and sunk down onto the bed beside her. For a long moment he lay, staring contentedly at the back of her head, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest, and he mused that this felt nice...

Safe.

Simple.

Serene...

He suddenly felt far less nervous than he had just moments previously, so much so that he dared draw in a deep breath and at long last reach to put an arm around her.

Dora instantly stiffened. The jolted movement very nearly knocked the confidence clear from him, and yet he waited determinedly for her surprise to wear off, for her to relax...

A long minute passed. Neither of them moved a muscle.

In hindsight, Remus realised as he drew in a deep breath, ready to mumble whatever happened to come to mind, this was probably a bad beginning...

At the thought of beginnings, the werewolf found himself suddenly struck with an idea, and he managed to clear his throat a little and mumble:

"Hello..."

"Hi..." came the equally as apprehensive response, but he refused to be deterred, his grip upon her slackening as he decided:

"You're going to need a pair of socks, some shoes and a coat. We're going out."

There was a long and distinctly confused silence. Apparently after so many days apart and several ignored letters this had not been the sort of greeting that his wife had been expecting, for she shuffled away from him a little and inquired:

"Are you taking the piss?"

Remus supposed this was probably a rather good question.

"No..." he mumbled, reaching to push himself back up into a sitting position. "I'm...I'm not..."

Dora considered this rather garbled response before reaching to grab fistfuls of duvet, hugging them to her chest.

"Well," she murmured, voice unnaturally hoarse, "if it's all the same to you, love, I'd rather just...just stay here..." She trailed off with a sniff, ducking her head so that she could bury her face in her arms. Remus felt nerves begin to assault his chest. He was beginning to feel rather stupid.

"I didn't mean to...to start like that..." he admitted, feeling himself redden. "What I mean is...well...I thought, perhaps...maybe...we could...well..."

"Did Harry send you?" Dora asked, apparently not really listening to what he was mumbling about, and he thought she meant it to be some sort of accusation, only she sounded far too feeble for anything of the sort.

"No..." he winced as the word left his lips far too quickly and her shoulders hunched as if the sound had stung her.

"Liar." she whispered, again far less an accusation that it ought have been, much more a statement of fact. He didn't see much use in denying it.

"I don't...don't think it matters if he sent me or not." he protested half-heartedly. "If...if I didn't want to be here...well...well I'd have ignored him, wouldn't I?"

"I hope so." she sighed heavily and rolled onto her back, distinctly watery gaze upon the ceiling. "It's not to late, you know." she said, not daring to glance sideways at him. "If you go now we could pretend you were never here."

"Why would I want to do that?" he asked, feeling quite pained and promptly wishing he hadn't asked because the prospect of a reply was a troubling one.

"Because..." Dora whispered with a sniff, reaching to swipe a hand across her eyes before finally fixing him with a stare. "Because it...it would feel safer that way."

"Safer?"  
"Yes..."

"Why?"

"Because..."

"Because what?"

The mousy haired witch's gaze dropped to her hands, her fingers clasped together nervously as she admitted:

"Because, Remus, I'm frightened. I'm...I'm scared."

Remus felt a sudden urge to reach to throw his arms tightly around her, and yet he couldn't bear to do so for fear she might go horribly tense in his arms again, the feeling would surely shatter any nerve that he had left. Instead, he leant back until he could lean his head against the wall, the cool plaster against the back of his head sent a shiver down his spine.

"What are you afraid of, Dora?"

Dora slumped so far forward that her forehead very nearly met the duvet and when she replied her voice was so quiet that he very nearly couldn't hear her.

"Of...of you. Of me. Of us...I'm afraid that we can't be fixed...that...that we're too damaged..."

Her expression grew somewhat relieved when he admitted:

"Me too." He fidgeted nervously for a moment before clearing his throat a little and telling her: "And that's why I think we should...well...that we should start again."

"Start again?"  
"Yes. From the beginning. Right from the beginning."

Dora's eyebrows knitted together as she frowned down into her lap.

"I'm not even sure I know when the beginning was." she confessed, smearing a stray tear across her cheek with the sleeve of her jumper. "If it...if it was the...the fire or...or at Mungo's or...or even back in the broom cupboard all those years ago..."

"I mean further back than all that." Remus told her, feeling rather as though again he ought put an arm around her or something but not really having the guts to do so. "I was thinking more the beginning of _us_."

Dora let out a soft huff of despairing amusement.

"I wasn't aware our relationship had been buggered for quite that long."

"Me neither," Remus said, very nearly huffing himself. "But that's precisely the point."

"Oh." she mumbled, though he was pretty sure she didn't have a clue what he meant.

"Do you love me?" he asked frankly, stomach twisting a little when the question made her visibly flinch.

"Yes." she said, nodding her head firmly, only to flinch again when he asked:

"And do you think I love you?"

"Yes. In...in a way."

"What does that mean?"  
"I...I don't really know...I suppose you love me, but...but you don't."

"What about before? Years ago? What about...what about back during the War? Did you love me then?"

"Of course I did."

"And did I love you then?"

"Of course you did."

"Well then. There lies the difference. You think I loved you better, back then."

Dora looked up from her lap to fix him with dull eyes as she sucked in a deep breath.  
"And did you?" she whispered, leaning back a little as if she didn't really want to hear an answer. "Did you love me better, back then?"

Remus remained mute. Dora promptly flopped back down upon the bed, eyes screwed shut against a defeated sob.

"That's...irrelevant." Remus mumbled, reaching to rake a weary hand through his hair, and his indifference finally broke her and she let out a choked sob into the nearest pillow.

"How can you say that?"

"It's a pointless question for you to ask starters...you've abused my loyalty, of course I don't love you the same..."

As he watched his wife promptly dissolve into tears, Remus very nearly bit through his tongue in an attempt to stop the barrage of bitter thoughts spurting from his mouth.

This was stupid, he realised as he was forced to turn to stare blankly out of the window. It was utterly foolish. Plan ruined or not, it didn't matter. He wasn't ready for all of this, not ready at all...

He should probably leave...

But then again it couldn't get much worse...

"But that doesn't matter, does it?" he asked, pretending she wasn't still sobbing miserably upon the bed beside him. "Because if we're going to go back to the very beginning...well, I don't love you any less, do I? In fact...if we go back far enough I probably don't love you at all...I don't know you...and that would be a good place to start, wouldn't it? Because if we fell in love once, I don't see why we couldn't do it again."

It took Dora a long moment to stop sobbing just long enough to tell him:

"That's mental, Remus. You're mental."

"Well you don't know that, do you?" he said, sounding bordering on offended as he crossed his arms firmly across his chest. "You don't really know me..."

To his utter surprise, this coaxed the smallest of sniggers from her lips, and after a sizeable pause she removed her tear-stained face from the refuge of her arms to regard him with puffy dark eyes.

"I haven't agreed to go back to...to anything..." she mumbled, seemingly not entirely sure where the conversation was headed, and he drew in a deep, daring breath and rolled his eyes at her, demanding:

"Well? Are you going to let me take you out on our first date or not?"

It was utterly stupid, if truth be told, and probably far too daft an idea for a situation as dire and serious as this. Remus knew it, and yet he forced himself to stare expectantly at her.

Because it was the only idea he had.

The long, deliberating silence that followed made his stomach twist into knots, and he very nearly let out a sigh of relief when Dora slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position and asked:

"Where are we going?"

Half an hour later saw them huddled together on a park bench not far from the house, a couple of bottles of butterbeer and a large bag of piping hot chips set down in his lap.

As he set about uncapping the bottle, each with a soft pop, Dora gazed up at the dreary, overcast sky and observed:

"This isn't very romantic."

"No, it isn't." Remus agreed, "I don't suppose I've really...really thought this through."

As she accepted the bottle that he offered her, Dora managed a vague snigger.

"I don't mind though, I've never been one for fancy restaurants, have I?" she said, and he found himself smiling a little as he asked:

"I don't know, have you?"

Dora pursed her lips together against further sniggering.

"No, I haven't." she consented to informing him, and he murmured:  
"Well that's a stroke of luck."

For a moment they sat in silence as she watched him carefully set about opening up the paper bagful of chips, before she seemingly decided to play along whole-heartedly, wondering:

"Do you do that a lot, then? Not think things through, I mean."

Remus frowned down into the paper bag, pursing his lips together in consideration.

"No, not really." he mumbled. "I think most things through...probably too much."

"Then you don't consider yourself to be very spontaneous?"

"No. I like to...plan things. I feel more comfortable that way."

Dora leant back in her seat, reaching to tug her coat more firmly around her.

"I'm infuriatingly spontaneous." she admitted, face contorting into a near-scowl. "I probably shouldn't tell you that though, should I? It'll put you off me...like the last guy."

As he selected a chip with what was probably far more consideration than was necessary, the werewolf told her:

"I doubt it."

"I don't." she mumbled wearily. "In fact you should probably go home now, you know...I'm trouble."

"And a werewolf isn't?"

"I don't know...do you leave hair on the carpet?"

Their combined laughter was utter music to his ears, and he felt rather tempted to throw his arms around her in triumph.

This was them. This was what it had always been like, how it ought still be...

Remus couldn't remember the last time they had joked about his condition, or about anything for that matter. He'd missed their jokes so terribly, their absence had sucked the cheer from life, sudden and sometimes unexpected little interludes that upon first meeting her he had found somewhat perplexing.

_She's a bloody nutcase!_ he recalled Sirius announcing one night after an Order meeting, during which Dora had interrupted Moody's grim report to suggest a new and decisive move for the Order: An attack upon whichever apothecary supplied Lucius Malfoy with his no doubt limitless supply of shampoo and conditioner, with an aim to crush morale at Malfoy Manor, whilst providing the Order with the opportunity to nab a product or two to present to Snape at Christmas. The young Auror had made this suggestion with an utterly dead-pan face, voice gravely serious until Sirius had toppled off his chair, no longer able to suppress his hysterical laughter. By the time Sirius had dragged himself back up off the floor and the rest of the Order had stopped sniggering, Moody's fury appeared entirely lost on Dora, because she had promptly returned to listening carefully, quill pen poised and ready to take notes.

Remus had agreed with his friend that clearly she was _slightly mental_, and Sirius had grinned and announced:

_I like her!_

As amusing as she was, Remus had found Dora's abrupt shift between humour and seriousness somewhat difficult to get used to. And yet it had soon become one of the things that he adored most about her.

True to form, Dora reached to retrieve a chip from the bag and, after chewing on it thoughtfully, announced in a downright grave voice:

"That's why I'm here with you now, you see...why I ruined it with the last guy. I was being bloody spontaneous...I didn't stop and think! And...and now he...he can barely stand to look at me. I've driven him away...he...he doesn't come home at night and he doesn't reply to my letters."

"I wouldn't worry if I were you." Remus told her, selecting another chip. "I doubt he was worth it, anyway."

"How'd you know?"  
"Well...if he was worth it he'd have had the backbone to stick around a bit longer."

Dora let out a soft huff of disapproval, hugging her arms tightly around herself as she eyed her boots.

"Well," she whispered, digging a pointed toe into the gravelly soil, "there's only so much a man can take from the world's worst wife, you know."

Remus leant to stretch his legs out in front of him, lips twitching towards a smile as he selected another chip.

"That's probably true. Assuming you were the world's worst wife, of course."

"I was."

"Mm...I can't really picture it."

As she reached for the bagful of chips again, Dora muttered:

"It's your funeral."

Remus watched as an elderly man walking his dog made a slow, shuffling progression across the bottom of the hill they were sat atop of, fingers toying thoughtfully with the paper bag.

"Well it would be rather hypocritical of me, don't you think, to want somebody who was perfect." he reasoned. "It's not as if I'm even bordering on half decent myself."

"Are you not?" Dora asked, glancing sideways at him with wide, supposedly shocked eyes, and he wasn't quite sure whether or not she was being sarcastic.

"Nope, not even close. That's why I'm here with you, you see. That's why it didn't work out last time. I was...far too judgemental."

To his utterly bewilderment, Dora swallowed her current mouthful of potato and said:

"Cool."

"Cool?"

"Yeah. It's cool that we've got something in common. I'm a judgmental bitch too."

"What?"

"It's true, you know. That's another reason why I'm here. I go off and totally screw up my marriage, let some other guy you couldn't trust as far as you could throw him get between my husband and I, and once I mess him around enough I go and have the bloody nerve to ask him a stupid favour, and then get dead miffed when he doesn't instantly jump at the chance to help me. I...ha! I even told him he was over analysing everything! How...how bloody stupid and...and selfish is that?"

"Well that would depend. Perhaps you weren't entirely wrong." He turned to fix her with a stare as he murmured: "Perhaps he shouldn't have thought so much. Perhaps he should have just concentrated on what was right in front of him the whole time."

Dora seemed entirely unaware of the tear that was making its way steadily down her cheek as she shifted to gaze back at him, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

"And what was that?" she whispered, sounding painfully apprehensive.

Remus reached to take hold of her gently by the hand, feeling his stomach twist nervously as his fingers laced carefully through her own.

"Somebody who loves him unconditionally." he decided, glancing down at their entwined fingers as if he feared she might pull away from him, before his eyes darted back up to meet hers. "Somebody who cares for him when he is sick, who lies awake at night and frets about him, who knows how to stay positive and make him laugh and smile. Somebody who is imperfect, but is entirely perfect for him. Somebody he probably doesn't deserve, but by some miracle is married to anyway."

And at long last, as she reached to lay a hand atop of their laced fingers, Dora truly smiled, a beautiful curve of the lips and a burst of relief that made her eyes positively shine.

"Yeah, well," the witch whispered, the tips of her mousy hair tinged pink. "It's too late for him now, isn't it? Because I've got you instead."


	32. Doppelgängers

_Note: Since I will be giving up Fanfiction by the end of this year, I'm trying to tie up as many loose ends as possible! Even this one! _

_I know. A final chapter. I'm probably more shocked than you are! As many of you have probably realised, I've made a complete mess of this story and hate it with a passion! So I thought I'd struggle along and write the (poorly) planned ending so that I could officially wash my hands of it! _

_This 'fic is now rated a T due to the more adult scene near the end of the chapter._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**32: Doppelgängers **

He'd walked her to the front door of the house, her hand tucked carefully into the crook of his arm, both relieved and nervous all at once, and she'd paused upon the front doorstep, turning to eye him in consideration.

"D'you want to come in, then?" she'd asked, still perfectly in character, and he'd found himself quite taken with the scenario...

Merlin yes, he wanted to come in...

"Um..." he mumbled, reaching to shove his hands deep into his pockets, and his wife-turned-date sobered a little and mumbled:

"You don't...don't have to, obviously..."

Remus felt as if a horde of butterflies had taken up residence in his stomach.

He wanted nothing more than to go inside with her, make a humerus show of telling her what a charming house she had as if he didn't live there at all, laugh about the unusual soot-coloured décor in the fire-damaged kitchen. On their relatively quiet walk home he'd come up with another ridiculous few questions to ask her: _Do you have any children? Fancy that, your son and mine could almost be twins!_ Then they could sit and have a cup of tea on the sofa or maybe something a bit stronger until he felt he had the nerve to kiss her...

Because Merlin, he'd missed kissing her...

But he was quite convinced that things would escalate pretty abruptly once they got to sharing a kiss. It wouldn't be like a first date anymore, they'd forget they were starting over, he'd stop telling her that her hair looked beautifully bright and tangle his fingers in it instead, she'd forget not to sit too close to him and before they knew it she'd slide onto his lap as she did often when they were alone and they'd find themselves crashing back upon the sofa and one thing would lead to another...

And he didn't want that. He didn't trust himself not to ruin it. It was much too soon...

After all it hadn't been long since he'd found her curled up upon the sofa in question with Artemis Carrow-Smyth, he couldn't seem to quite forget the sight of them and then everything else that had gone so terribly wrong would come flooding back and he'd want screw his eyes shut and push her away and he'd probably make her cry and he'd feel utterly furious with himself because it was all going so well...!

So, _so_ well, in fact, that he felt as if things were already starting to heal the gap between them, that if they carried on like this he'd put everything else behind him...

In time.

If they didn't rush things.

No matter how keen an increasing part of him felt to do exactly that.

So he forced himself to mumble:

"I ought to...there's a...a...thing..."

"Oh..."

"A...staff meeting..."

"Oh! Right, yes! Because it's...there's always one..."

"On a Monday, yes..."

"Yes..."

"...and they might notice if I'm not there..."

"Yes, I suppose they probably would."

"Yes."

"Right. And you don't want to annoy Minerva any more than you already have."

"No, I certainly don't. She throws the most disapproving looks my way during dinner these days, you know. Goodness knows I don't want to upset her any more today!"

"Especially given what's happening tomorrow."

"Precisely. She'll be most irritated when I have such a spectacularly violent coughing fit at the breakfast table that I'll insist on retiring to bed and not returning for at least two hours! All that emergency cover work she'll have to organise! She'll be most cross!"

Dora smirked.

"You'd best be going then!" she said, reaching to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and Remus felt entirely reluctant to leave.

"You will be careful tomorrow, won't you?" he said, and despite himself he reached forward to take hold of her by the hand.

Dora gave a single resolute nod, fingers curling tightly around his hand, and he felt a sudden urge to pull his hand free. Despite their tentative reconciliation he found such closeness troubling, as if he couldn't trust himself.

"I'll meet you on the corner outside precisely like we said." Dora told him confidently. "Not a moment earlier or later than half past nine, without any fuss whatsoever. And it'll all be over. Just like that." she told him firmly, and though they both knew that life wasn't going to be quite that simple, they both managed a smile.

"If you're more than five minutes late," he said, the smile instantly vanishing, "I'm coming after you."

"You can't come after me, Remus." she pointed out sternly. "If I don't come back on time you'd better...send for Harry, I suppose...just...whatever you do, don't come after me, alright? You have to be completely out of the picture if we're to clear your name. And besides," she said, giving her head a confident little toss, "you won't need to come after me! I'll be there!"

She wasn't there.

For the third time in as many minutes as he stood upon the corner of the deserted London side street, Remus reached into his pocket for his watch. He snapped it open and frowned worriedly down at the ticking timepiece. It was almost a quarter to ten and he was beginning to panic.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

It had all gotten off to a perfectly good start. The plan was in essence simple. All Dora had to do was morph into Elijah and wander into hospital custody, dispelling any suspicions that the boy was being hidden or held captive and promoting the entirely false idea that he had simply spent the past few days lost in London. Once she slipped back out of the hospital the blame for Elijah's fresh disappearance would be placed upon the hospital staff and Remus' name would be wiped from the Ministry investigation entirely. Remus had awoken to an owl that morning from Harry who had dropped in on Dora before heading for work. At that point, Harry had claimed, all had been well. He had apparated with Dora to London and had waved goodbye to her as they went their separate ways, one towards the Ministry and the other towards St. Mungo's.

But Dora had yet to reappear.

Remus was beginning to find the urge to go after her overwhelming.

After all, Merlin only knew what had happened to her in there! She might have been set upon by an army of healers wielding potions and antidotes for Merlin knew what, or worse she might have been found out...

And really it was all rather risky, wasn't it? She had little way of defending herself if she were to remain in character, and all sorts of ghastly things could happen if she managed to down one undesirable potion or another...

Remus dreaded to imagine the sorts of potions St. Mungo's prescribed to troubled people like Elijah Benson. There were probably sedatives and those potions that made your head all woozy and slow and stopped you causing too much of a fuss. Potions to poke and prod at your mind until it did whatever was deemed normal...

He had to do something. He didn't know what that something was but he'd have to do it, he couldn't just stand here...

And with that, Remus disapparated with a pop.

As he shoved another book into his bag, Chester Burton puffed his cheeks in exasperation and announced:

"This is bloody painful, Ted."

Beside him as he reached to sling his bag onto his shoulder, Teddy Lupin didn't bother to respond, and his fellow Gryffindor was forced to repeat:

"It's bloody painful, isn't it?"

"Shut up, Ches." Teddy muttered, turning to lead the way towards the classroom door as the rest of the class all made a dash for the same direction.

"But isn't it driving you mad? Sitting around in class whilst your mum's out there..."

"Keep your voice down!" Teddy snapped, reaching to tug frustratedly at his hair as he turned to lead the way briskly towards the classroom door. "Yes it's driving me mad, Chester, it's driving me up the wall! But you heard what my dad said! We have to stop worrying about it and...and keep our mouthes shut!"

Turning out into the corridor, Teddy drew in a deep breath to further berate his friend, only for the air to catch in his throat in surprise when he very nearly walked straight into somebody stood just outside the classroom. Stumbling, Teddy felt a hand reach to grasp hold of him tightly by the arm to steady him, and to his surprise he found himself staring up at his father.

"Dad!" he breathed, eyes widening in surprise to see the professor, and Remus' grip upon his arm tightened until it was almost painful.

"You owe me homework, Teddy." the werewolf announced bluntly as Chester came to a halt at Teddy's side.

"What?"

"I said you owe me homework."

"No I don't..."

"Do you not? We'll see what the Headmistress has to say about that. Come with me."

Chester gawped.

Teddy was about to do the same only for Remus to offer him a wink so fast the boy very nearly missed it.

"Yes, Professor..." the metamorphmagus mumbled, adjusting his grip upon his bag, and with the briefest sideways glance at Chester who was still very much gawping, Teddy hurried after his father as Remus turned on his heel and began to stride off down the corridor.

"What's happened?!" Teddy hissed as they waved their way through the crowd of students heading for the next lesson, and Remus gave a grim chuckle and told him:

"I've just fallen out of the running for the Father of the Year award."

"What?"

"Stop talking, Ted."

Not another word was spoken until Remus had led the way out of the castle and before Teddy knew it they were striding down the lawn towards the school gates.

"How could it have come to this?" Remus wondered as they hurried away from the castle, and Teddy felt his stomach twist nervously to ask:

"Come to what?"

"Your mother is in danger, Theodore." the werewolf confessed bleakly, and before Teddy could say a thing he confessed: "And Merlin strike me down for even conceiving the notion let alone entertaining it! But I need _you _to rescue her..."

As the double doors of the ward swung shut, Dora Lupin reached to dig her fingers into her arm, silently cursing her current predicament.

She couldn't seem to quite remember how it had happened. She's spent a moment too long considering her next move and suddenly there had been people and the doorway was blocked and she was being led...somewhere and there had been some sort of potion...

A potion.

A...blue potion?

Purple.

Blue.

Purple.

Think!

What colour was the potion, Dora?

Was it blue or was it purple?

Think. Carefully. This is very, very important...

Thinking, the Auror came to realise, was something of a struggle when one had been plied with one drug or another. Recalling Poisons and Antidotes training from Merlin knew how many years ago at the Ministry was something else entirely.

Don't try and move, she told herself sluggishly as she stared blearily up at the pale tiled ceiling. It's not safe to move, not in a state like this...

And yet...

She had to move. She couldn't stay here, not like this, not when her limbs were growing heavy and she was beginning to struggle to think straight. She needed a clear mind to hold her morphing successfully, and if she couldn't do that then she had to get out of the...place...

Hospital. She was in the hospital. Obviously.

Don't drop the morph, don't drop the morph, whatever happens don't drop the morph...

For a brief moment she couldn't quite remember who it was she was supposed to look like, and for that split second she felt panicked.

Elijah. She was morphing Elijah. Thin, willowy Elijah with his knobbly knees and pointy elbows and brown...blonde...brownish-blonde straw-like hair. Hair that was greasy and stuck out at odd angles and eyes that were so very, very sad...

Focus, Dora.

And it was all she could do to lie still and stay morphed.

It'll wear off eventually, the feeling will pass and then you can...move...somewhere...

Thin. Willowy. Knobbly knees and pointed elbows...brownish-blonde hair like straw...sad eyes...

Thin. Willowy. Knobbly knees...

Teddy Lupin tried his best to look casual as he wandered down the corridors of St. Mungo's hospital in search of his missing mother.

His father had bundled him into transfigured robes of healer lime green and he had morphed himself taller, altered his face and given himself hair a conservative shade of brown. Remus had proceeded to apparate him just up the street from the hospital entrance and had told Teddy to get a move on before he thought better of getting the young wizard involved.

Having eyed the various signs around the place and located a likely floor upon which to locate his mother, Teddy had set off in search of her, panicked at the thought that if she was in as bad a state as Remus feared he had no easy way of escorting her to safety.

After all, it was illegal for him to use magic outside of school.

He'd have to panic about that when the time came, he supposed, and so he set about peering through doorways in search of an Elijah Benson look-alike.

He found her in a room off to the left near the end of the corridor, and had been about to push the door open when a voice behind him had stopped him in his tracks.

"Excuse me?" the voice said, causing Teddy's heart to begin to pound in his ears. "Can I help you?"

Willing himself to remain calm, Teddy slowly turned round to find himself looking at a passing witch who was clutching a stack of papers to her chest, eying him curiously.

"Oh..." Teddy mumbled, pausing to clear his throat. "I...I'm fine, thank you..."

"I don't recognise you, that's all." the witch explained, and Teddy almost winced when he automatically replied in a rush:

"I'm new! I...I'm new, it's...it's my first day." he tried to offer her a smile but ended up grimacing, and she frowned a little and said:

"Healer Pierce didn't say we had anyone new starting this week. What's your name?"

Teddy sucked in a deep breath and picked the first name that came to mind.

"Burton...Vic Burton!"

"Right," the healer said, offering him a slight frown, and with that she turned to bustle off down the corridor, calling: "Wait there a minute, Healer Burton. I'll let Healer Pierce know you're here."

"Great..." Teddy said, instantly panicked, and it was all he could do to stand still until she had disappeared around the corner.

He dashed into the room the moment she was out of sight, his heart racing as he skidded to a halt at the bedside, reaching to shake his mother by the shoulder.

"Mum!" he hissed urgently, instantly frustrated when she turned her head very slowly to regard him with Elijah's eyes. "It's me! It's Teddy!"

She stared at him for what felt like an eternity as she attempted to process what was happening, before she sucked in a deep breath and told him:

"Your dad's a dead man."

"Yes," Teddy agreed, glancing nervously over his shoulder, "he said you'd say that." Hurriedly shrugging off his lime green robes, he asked: "Can you...can you stand?"

"What?"

"Can you stand up, Mum?!"

"I...yes. Possibly."

"Drop the morph and get changed!" Teddy said, throwing the robes into her lap. "You'll have to be the healer and I'll be a patient!"

"Absolutely not, Theodore." his mother slurred, and as he pulled the shoes from his feet he told her:

"Yes, Dad said you'd say that too. Hurry up before somebody comes back!"

"'M not having you...you drugged up to your eyeballs on...on Merlin knows what!" Dora mumbled furiously, but nevertheless she reached to tug the hospital gown from around her shoulders.

"Well that won't happen if we hurry up and get out of here! And Dad says we have to morph that way! He says you're the only one who can do magic and you can't do that dressed up as Elijah! And you can't stay as Elijah after they've given you whatever it is! One dose of that sort of potion is alright but if you risk much more than that you could end up with...with permanent brain damage! If you...if you morph yourself to your normal size, Dad says...Dad says potion dosage is based on weight for these sorts of things and if you're bigger it'll...the effects will take longer to..."

"Yes, yes! Dad's being a drama queen!"

"Is he?"

"Just...give me those robes!"

They fumbled around with clothes and hastily morphed their chosen characters, she now a healer and he a young patient with a mop of pale blonde hair. Elijah Benson, as planned, had entirely disappeared. Teddy fidgeting impatiently as his mother struggled to keep her straight black hair from abruptly twisting into curls.

"Give me your hands." Dora instructed as she slowly lowered her feet to the floor, and Teddy found himself holding his breath as she grasped hold of him so tightly that it made his hands throb.

"Slowly..." the witch told herself, squinting down towards the floor, and Teddy pointed out:

"We need to hurry..."

"Shh."

"But somebody's gone to get Healer somebody or other..."

"Just...shh..." Dora straightened up, feet planted carefully upon the floor. She shifted her weight from side to side in consideration before giving herself a shake. Then she reached to fumble amongst the sheets behind her until her fingers closed around her hidden wand and she sucked in a deep breath and decided:

"Let's go..."

They set off at an agonisingly slow pace, hand in hand, her progress distinctly staggering, and they had only reached a desk halfway down the corridor when they heard approaching footsteps.

"Look casual." Dora instructed, entirely failing to do so herself, and Teddy hastily reached to grab a stack of papers from the desk, shoving them into his mother's hand.

"Lean against the wall!" he hissed, "You look as if you're about to fall down!"

Dora hastily leaned back against the whitewashed wall and squinted down at the papers, managing to look remarkably engrossed. As a healer came striding down the corridor towards them, Teddy hissed:

"You're holding it upside down!"

Dora reached to toss the papers back onto the desk, straightening up a little with a wobble as the passing wizard glanced rather curiously at her.

"Morning!" Dora greeted cheerfully as Teddy coughed loudly into his sleeve, and no sooner had the healer offered the pair a nod and disappeared into one of the rooms they set off again down the corridor, their pace fast and in Dora's case stumbling.

"Your hair's got a...a streak of pink in it..."

"Just keep walking."

"And your...chin...!"

"Keep walking!"

They made it to a staircase atop which Dora reached to grasp the hand rail, swaying at the mere sight.

"Merlin...steps..."

"Come on, Mum!"

"Alright, alright!" Concentrating furiously Dora took a careful step forward...

Teddy lunged to grab her by the arm and missed, his gasp of panic catching in his throat as the Auror promptly lost her balance and went tumbling down the staircase. At every bump Teddy winced and Dora landed in a heap at the bottom, crumpled and muttering obscenities under hear breath.

"Everything alright up there?!" a voice called from somewhere several flights below, and Teddy rushed down the steps, shouting:

"Yes, thank you!" Seizing his mother by the arm and snatching up her fallen wand, the boy attempted to haul Dora back onto her feet and she was forced to stagger sideways to lean against the wall with a groan.

"Are you alright?!" Teddy hissed, and as she gingerly leant upon a foot and felt her now twisted ankle throb in protest, Dora automatically mumbled:

"Fine, love...perfectly fine..."

"Let's go!"

"Yes..."

She tried to take a step forwards, but her ankle very nearly gave way underneath her.

"Mum...!" Teddy whispered in panic as they heard approaching footsteps again, and Dora looked around frantically until her gaze came to rest upon the storage cupboard door behind them.

"Into the cupboard!" she decided wildly. "Quick!"

Teddy reached to yank the door open only to find it was locked. Turning awkwardly to examine it, Dora plucked the wand from Teddy's hand...

"Aloha..." she winced when an uncoordinated flick of the wrist very nearly sent the wand flying from her hand. She gritted her teeth and tried again. "Alohamora..."

The lock clicked open and Teddy had just enough time to throw the door open and drag his mother inside and out of sight when a slightly bewildered looking man appeared in search of the commotion he had heard mere moments earlier.

Inside the cupboard Dora sunk down upon a pile of neatly folded bed sheets before lighting her wand with a mutter that took her three attempts.

"Any bandages, Ted?" she whispered wearily, her eyes drifting closed, and Teddy reached to take the wand from her, squinting at the various stacks of hospital supplies. He saw trays of bottles, more bed linen, healers' aprons, a mop and bucket...

"I don't think so, Mum..." he whispered back, turning to look down at his mother. "Mum...?"

Closer inspection informed the boy that she had fallen asleep. Her face had grown pale and a bruise was already beginning to blossom upon her forehead from her tumble. Returning the wand to her lap, Teddy reached for a neatly folded pillowcase and, teeth gritted in effort, he attempted to rip the case open into a longer length of material. Folding it clumsily in the dim, cramped space he crouched down to examine her ankle. When he set about wrapping his make-shift bandage tightly around the swelling joint in an attempt to keep it rigid, she stirred with a groan, reaching to press her hands to her eyes with a sigh.

"Can't you fix this, Mum?" Teddy asked, frowning down at his feeble attempts, and the witch gave a dark chuckle and told him:

"I can barely light my wand, Teddy. If I try fixing a twisted ankle we'll be downstairs booking an appointment to have my foot chopped off. This'll do me until we get out of here."

"How're we to get past reception?" Teddy wondered, "I can't possibly walk out dressed like this!" and Dora confessed:

"I have no idea, love."

They made it slowly down another two flights of stairs and along one last corridor, pausing before the double doors leading out into the reception area. Teddy stood fidgeting for a long moment as Dora peered through the glass panel at the crowded room beyond.

"What do we do?" Teddy breathed as Dora backed away from the door, and in response the Auror crossed the corridor to snatch up a paper cup from the stack beside a water fountain. Splashing some water into the cup, spilling a generous amount onto the tiled floor, the witch took a long moment to guzzle the liquid, before setting about refilling the cup.

"You wait here and don't move a muscle." she instructed, reaching to wipe a stray few droplets from her chin, and with that she held out the newly filled cup for the boy to take. Once Teddy had walked over and hesitantly accepted the cup, she promised: "I'll be back by the time you can drink that."

"I'm not sure you should..." Teddy began uncertainly as he watched her shuffling progression back towards the door, but she waved a vague hand at him over her shoulder which seemed to unbalance her a little, muttering:

"Start drinking, Sweetheart."

Teddy watched her take a moment to compose herself, straightening up, sucking in a loud yet calming breath before reaching to push the doors open, stepping out into the reception area with a surprise spring in her step.

Her instructions forgotten, Teddy abandoned the cup of water in the fountain and rushed to peer through the glass.

Dora was making her way purposefully across the room, successfully weaving in and out of the rows of chairs, heading towards the Welcome Witch's desk. She likely seemed, Teddy thought, to the casual onlooker as if she were midway through one task or another and knew precisely where she was going...

Where was she going?

Teddy watched, quite awed as his mother slipped behind the desk, shot the Welcome Witch on duty a bright smile, before heading to the cloak stand in the corner where a number of hospital staff members had abandoned their cloaks and coats. The Auror reached to pluck her garment of choice down from the stand and turned triumphantly upon her heel to brazenly walk off with the stolen garment before anybody noticed the item in question belonged to someone else entirely...

Teddy winced to watched her lurch sideways to grasp hold of a filing cabinet, the movement having no doubt made her head spin, and at the commotion the Welcome Witch paused in her duties to turn and offer the stranger a concerned look.

_Stand up straight_, Teddy silently begged as he watched his mother scramble to do just that. _Laugh it off and pretend there's not a thing wrong with you, that you're not a fake healer or drugged up on Merlin knows what, that you're not stealing clothes so you can sneak me back out of..._

"It won't do to go wandering off, you know!"

At the sound of a voice behind him, Teddy found himself spinning around and it made his head swim too to be confronted with a stern-faced healer with curly iron grey hair and an impressive squint.

"I...um..." the boy babbled, still panicked at the thought his mother might well be discovered and far too muddled to leap to his own defence.

"What ward are you, young man?" the old witch asked, peering at him searchingly, and Teddy couldn't help but confess:

"I...I don't know..."

The healer gave an impatient huff.

"You don't know?"

"No I...I um..."

"What's your name?"

"Um..."

"Come along now! I don't have all day, you know! Didn't spend all those years learning medicine so I could escort runaway boys back to their hospital beds, did I? Honestly! Wandering around like there's naught the matter with you! In my day if you wandered off like that you got sent home..."

Teddy was numbly aware of the doors behind him being flung open and then a breathless voice announced:

"Yes, quite right! Come on, Christopher! Back to bed!"

And with that Dora stumbled forward to seize Teddy by the elbow, stolen cloak tucked neatly over the crook of her arm, and before he knew it Teddy had been half-dragged up the corridor and round the corner...

...and into a ladies bathroom.

As he gasped in a series of deep breaths in an attempt to calm his suddenly pounding heart, leaning back against the door, Teddy watched his mother stagger over to the sinks, dropping to her knees as she grasped hold of a basin with a groan.

"What was he bloody thinking?!" she snapped furiously, forehead coming to press against the cool surface of the sink. "When I...when I get hold of him I'm going to...to bloody hex him!"

Teddy suspected she was referring once again to his father, and at the uncharacteristic venom in her voice he felt compelled to mumble:

"Sorry, Mum..."

"I'd rather he'd left me here for my brain to rot!" Dora spat, grip upon the basin tightening furiously, and Teddy sucked in a breath to mumble a response when he paused with a wince at her sniffing miserably.

"Don't...don't cry, Mum. I'm fine, I...I've been in way worse scrapes than this! And we're almost out! We'll be out of here before you know it, we've only got to walk through reception..."

"Oh Ted!" Dora moaned, eyes squeezed shut as to the boy's alarm tears began to seep down her cheeks. "I wish! I wish, I wish! 'S gonna...gonna go on for weeks! Months! F...forever!"

Teddy felt a lump forming in his throat.

He'd rather thought things were better. He'd thought his father had made things better, that his parents were back on the straight and narrow, that they'd made up or at least come to some sort of understanding...

It didn't seem that way now, watching his mother mumble miserably to herself, slumped over a bathroom sink, and Teddy felt rather as if his parents had let him down...

"You're...you're not thinking straight, Mum." he reminded the pitiful heap of a witch hopefully. "Dad says you...you might be a bit...I mean...Dad says you might not be feeling yourself..."

Dora drew in a deep, shuddering breath and turned stiffly to look round at him, expression bleak.

"No, love." she whispered, shaking her head in a distinctly uncoordinated manner. "I...I feel faint and sick and the world's all fuzzy...I...I feel a lot of things, love, but I know what it feels like to be myself. I know what if feels like to...to be married to a man who can barely...barely look me straight in the eye let alone...let alone hold me or...or so much as hold my hand for more than a moment! And I know what it feels like to be given a second chance! And I know I won't get a third one! Now...now Dad and I...Dad and I are alright, I promise we are. We aren't arguing, we aren't going to split up and we...we had a lovely time together yesterday. But...I don't suppose you could understand, Teddy, because you're young and you aren't married..."

"I'd like to try." Teddy insisted, taking a step forward, and the witch sighed heavily, frowning deeply. She seemed to struggle with whatever concept she was attempting to explain for a long moment before telling him:

"When you marry somebody you are in love with, Teddy, it isn't the same as...as just being friends. It's a lot more...complicated than that. There are a lot of different sides to love that...that make up a whole. And...and sometimes you can exist if...if one of those sides gets taken away. You can exist but it...it isn't the same. It leaves a...a hole. And that can be very...very painful, you see. And if it stays that way long enough it'll...it'll destroy a marriage, no matter what else you do. Now I've been very stupid and I've...I've created a...a hole. I lost Dad's trust and that's one of the most important things in a marriage. But we're working on that, you know? We're working to fix that. I can tell it's getting better, I can see it is. But there's...there's another hole, Teddy. There's a hole I can't seem to fix. Because Dad just...Dad just won't let me. And it's frightening, you see. I'm frightened he won't ever let me fix it and we'll never be quite the way we were before. That's very frustrating, Teddy. It's my fault, I know it is, but it makes me feel mad with Dad all the same. Because it's the sort of hole that...that won't stop dragging me down..."

"What hole, Mum?" Teddy asked, feeling his stomach tie into knots, and Dora gave a choked almost-laugh and complained:

"Merlin, what've they poured down my throat?! What am I thinking?! Telling my...my own son...!" she slumped further towards the floor, one hand reaching to clutch her head, but despite herself she found herself saying: "Imagine for a moment, Teddy, if school were over tomorrow. Imagine getting off the train to meet me and I didn't give you a big hug and a kiss like I do every time I see you. And when I walk with you back through the barrier I don't put my arm around you whilst I tell you what we're going to have for tea. And when we get home I don't...I don't ruffle your hair and tell you to make sure you put your shoes away in the cupboard. We have a good joke over tea but I don't swat you on the arm when you're cheeky, or...or when you tell me you lost at Quidditch I don't pat you on the arm when I tell you there's always next time. Then imagine we all go and sit in the living room and listen to the wireless and you fall asleep with your head on my shoulder...but I don't put my arm around you, instead I get a...a cushion for your head so I can...can go and start the washing up. And when I send you to bed I don't give you a kiss goodnight. Imagine if it were like that day in and...and day out. How d'you suppose you'd feel after a week or a...a month?"

Teddy chewed worriedly upon a nail, a deep frown creasing his forehead.

"I don't know..." he mumbled uncertainly. "Strange, I suppose..."

"That's because it's natural for me to show affection to you. It's natural for a mother to be affectionate towards her son. Just like it's...it's meant to be natural for...for husbands and wives to show affection towards one another. But your Dad won't allow it, Ted. He won't kiss me, won't hold me...he can barely bring himself to touch me! And that's...that's not right. That's not...that's not the way it's supposed to be. And if my husband can barely stand to touch me, well that doesn't make me much of a wife! And that's a frustrating thing, Ted. Because we're married. Because I don't want to just be a wife in...in name only! And if things don't get better that's...that's all I'll ever be!"

Teddy felt at a complete loss, then. He found he had absolutely no idea what to say and felt quite wretched to wonder:

"Can't we just...can't we just go home and...and you and Dad can talk about it? You're really not looking very well and I...I really think we should just...just hurry up and get out of here. What if somebody comes in and finds you all...you know!"

Dora was silent for a long moment, swiping furiously at the tears in her eyes, before she reached up to fumble with a tap, narrowly avoiding soaking her robes as she turned it on, sending a gush of cold water into the basin.

"Yes," she decided at last, scrambling back to her feet, "let's get out of here so I can...can give that bloody thoughtless dad of yours a...a piece of my mind!"

Teddy wasn't entirely sure he liked this plan, but as she splashed her face liberally with the icy water he found he didn't really want to argue with her. Once suitably revived by the shock of the cold upon her face, Dora snatched up the cloak she had dropped to the floor and came to throw it around Teddy's shoulders.

"There," she decided rather unenthusiastically. "That'll have to do you. At least it hides your hospital gown. Let's go!"

Their triumphant yet stumbling march through the hospital reception and out into the freedom of the street beyond was a distinctly muted end to their troubles which all seemed irrelevant now given the bigger picture, and as they headed silently down the road and round the corner to where Remus was waiting Teddy felt very little relief. Upon finding Remus pacing up and down the pavement, Dora's clumsy pace quickened and for a moment Teddy allowed himself the hopeful imagining that in his relief to find his wife unharmed Remus might throw his arms around her and bury his face in her shoulder and hold her tightly, as if none of Dora's complaints were in the least bit true...

Instead, the child was taken aback when his mother stopped just in front of the werewolf and proceeded to land a heavy slap against his cheek which almost made Remus stumble.

"What were you THINKING?!" Dora shouted, stumbling herself at such a forceful movement, and as he reached to press a hand to his stinging cheek, Remus simply stared at her. "How could you smuggle him out of school and send him after me?! WERE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"

Remus examined his shoes in consideration for a moment before confessing:

"Yes."

His honesty seemed to drive her to further fury and she let out a furious shriek, aiming a fresh blow at his chest.

Teddy winced in anticipation, only to stop in his tracks when Remus caught her by the wrist. The two adults stared at one another challengingly for a moment before he informed her:

"Yes I was out of my mind with worry for you. I apologise for caring..."

"No...don't...don't be..." she mumbled, fire abruptly extinguished, and Teddy watched her gaze drop to the werewolf's hand upon her wrist.

Remus too looked down and after an uncertain pause he slowly released her wrist. Tentatively she reached to slide her fingers between his, a slow, hopeful movement as if her anger with him was entirely gone, so focused was she upon the careful touch of skin upon skin, and despite his confusion at her behaviour Teddy felt tempted to smile when their fingers finally locked together.

Staring down at their entwined fingers, Dora let out a sigh and whispered:  
"I'm sorry, love. It's just I...I..."

"I shouldn't have sent him."

"No, you shouldn't. But I shouldn't have hit you...I...I can't entirely help it, I can't seem to think straight or keep my emotions in check, I'm...I'm high as a broom!" And with that Teddy's mouth went abruptly dry at the desperation in her voice as she pushed their clasped hands up until her knuckles were mere inches from the werewolf's face and asked: "F...forgive me?"

Her gaze upon him was almost unbearably pleading and yet after a brief hesitation Remus failed to entirely give in to the gesture. Rather than press a kiss to her hand he instead shot her a smile, pulling his hand free as he assured her:

"There's nothing to forgive."

And with that Teddy watched numbly as his father beckoned to him and they set off slowly up the street to an appropriate apparation point.

It took his mother almost twenty-four hours to sleep off the dizzying effects of the potion, Teddy was informed by his father once he had been safely smuggled back into school and had gone on with life as if nothing remarkable had happened that day at all. Indeed it seemed to Teddy in the coming weeks, as the press began to report the sensational story of Elijah Benson's disappearance from St. Mungo's, that life did seem to go back to normal. His mother's letters to him each week at school were perfectly cheerful and normal and as time went on the boy found it more and more easy to try and forget her breakdown in the hospital bathroom or his father's behaviour in the street afterwards. He tried to put it down to his mother's muddled mind, or indeed his own muddled mind because really the whole sequence of events had made his head spin.

And things had to be getting back to normal anyway. Because after a couple of weeks his father cleared out his quarters at Hogwarts and returned to sleeping at home. That, Teddy had thought happily, was definite progress.

Remus felt it was progress too.

Slow progress.

He'd spent his free weekends meeting Dora for drinks or going for walks and then he'd gone home for dinner and, feeling reassuringly normal and comfortable sat sipping butterbeer and eating a bowl of pasta, he had finally suggested in what he hoped was a casual manner that wouldn't cause a scene, that perhaps he might collect his things from Hogwarts the following day and come home for good.

He left a set of robes and pyjamas at the school with a wash bag. Just in case.

He'd nearly had to use it.

The first night back home, despite Dora's attempts not to make a big deal out of it, made him feel rather nervous and, having stood in the doorway of the bedroom for a long while, watching Dora change out of her work robes into a worryingly alluring night dress he was certain was a new addition to her wardrobe, Remus had felt rather as if things were dangerously close to spiralling out of control.

So he'd elected to sleep in Teddy's room.

Dora had pretended not to mind. But he'd stood on the landing some minutes later waiting for a turn in the bathroom and listened to her crying whilst attempting to brush her teeth.

He'd been sleeping in Teddy's room for a week and they had settled into a rather comfortable routine when he managed to slip up and make things take a turn for the worst. Dora hadn't been home when he had arrived back from Hogwarts for the night, she'd been out at some work related function or another, and whilst he waited for dinner to finish simmering on the stove Remus had wandered up into the master bedroom to do some absentminded tidying. Her rushed preparations for the evening had left the room a mess and he thought he'd clear away the discarded garments and various other items so that she had a tidy room to come home to at Merlin knew what hour of the morning. He'd found a pile of dresses on the bed, no doubt she had taken some time to contemplate what to wear for the evening, and as he had carefully hung each piece of clothing back in the wardrobe Remus had found himself examining each one, recalling the last time he'd seen her wear it, how he'd particularly liked the silky cream dress she'd worn last Valentine's Day because she'd looked unusually elegant in it, how she'd not worn the short black number for several years and how he'd not been able to stop staring at her the first time he'd seen her in it because it had been a bit too short to stop his imagination running wild. She'd worn the blue one covered in spots to Harry's birthday party a few years back and there was a photograph of her and Teddy sat in the Potters' back garden and she'd looked so lovely with that big smile of hers and her twinkling eyes...

The red dress was missing. The one she'd had for years that was an old favourite she wore time and time again. The one that made him a bit weak at the knees because it was tight in all the right places and had a ribbon lacing up the back that he knew how to undo at remarkable speed. It was bright and striking, just like she was, and he'd stood gazing blankly into the wardrobe feeling a deep sense of longing...

And over a solitary dinner he'd decided to move back to the master bedroom.

Looking back on it, he'd known it was a bad idea from the start. Because he'd not really been ready. He'd just had too much time on his hands to sit and think about her in that red dress and the ribbon and how despite his persistent uncertainty he missed her sliding into bed next to him and kissing him...

She'd appeared in the bedroom doorway at nearly two o'clock in the morning and though he had been dosing Remus had found himself suddenly wide awake.

Dora had leant against the doorframe, handbag hugged to her chest as she'd taken in the sight of her husband lying in the bed he had shunned for many weeks, and then she'd drew in a deep breath and said:

"Hi."

"Hello." he'd said, offering her a smile, and she shuffled into the room to drop the bag upon the dressing table before kicking off a pair of high heels and heading for the chest of drawers in the corner. "Did you have a nice time?"

"No," she'd confessed with a snigger as she'd pull a pair of pyjamas out of one drawer, a rather old and baggy pair that made him suspect she felt she had made a mistake last time round. "Nicholas from security made me dance with him for three whole songs!"

They'd both had a good snigger and he'd watched her reach to tug at the ribbon at the back of the dress, fingers fumbling, and he'd swallowed a lump in his throat and told her:  
"Come here..."

"What?"

"I said...come here. Let me..."

"Oh..."

Dora came to perch upon the edge of the bed and as he'd reached carefully to unlace the dress, Remus had felt like smiling.

Because it all felt very natural, very right...

He wanted to put his arms around her and just hold her, wanted to draw her under the duvet and hold her until she fell asleep. He thought he'd wait for her to change first, it was rather chilly after all, but then she'd stood up and stepped out of the dress and it had all done something rather awful to him and he'd not been able to stop staring when she'd ignored the pyjamas atop the dresser and instead turned around to look at him.

He wanted to screw his eyes shut and tell her to go and put her pyjamas on or at least get into bed because stood there in just a pair of knickers and her skin, smiling at him rather shyly she seemed so breathtaking that he was overwhelmed by her. Because Merlin, he'd missed her and he wanted her no matter how unbearable she was...

And then she'd sat back down again and, reaching to slide a tentative hand around his neck, she'd told him she loved him and he'd come undone. Before he'd quite known what he'd done he'd drawn her under the covers and she'd been lying snug atop him and he'd been kissing her and stroking her hair and running a hand down her back...

And then all of a sudden she'd been fiddling with the buttons of his pyjamas and it was all becoming a bit too rushed and he'd realised that it didn't matter how much he wanted her, she simply was unbearable and that was a fact.

And he'd panicked and pushed her hands away, pushed her away and before he'd known it she'd been sobbing into her pillow and he'd fled back into Teddy's room.

He lay awake for hours trying to decide precisely why he had panicked. Because by now he felt rather as if he did at least trust her, as if that damage had been undone. He hadn't thought of her kissing Artemis or lying with him on the sofa as had happened so often in the past. In the end he had simply concluded that he had panicked for no other reason than that was now what was normal. Intimacy just didn't happen these days, it had gained such a stigma that despite his changing feelings he couldn't shake it, couldn't help but worry the images would all come rushing back into his mind. He felt so nervous that he might relapse into resenting or mistrusting her that intimacy was simply a trauma.

He felt quite pathetic, thinking of it like that. But he wouldn't allow himself to blame her for it because really they were past that now. She had made a series of foolish decisions and she was undeniably sorry about them and so he wouldn't blame her for his fresh inadequacies. At the same time he couldn't quite decide how to blame himself, so instead he simply told himself it would all get better in time.

Time ran out.

Term ended and Teddy was due back home from school that afternoon. No doubt he'd want his bedroom back. Indeed, Remus had no intention of allowing the boy to realise it had ever been commandeered in the first place.

He'd been contemplating the coming evening as he put fresh sheets upon Teddy's bed when he'd realised he was being watched.

Dora, fresh back from the Ministry in time to head to Kings Cross, offered him a smile and, clearing her throat a little awkwardly, told him:

"There's um...they've got night shifts going at work this week. I thought I might take some."

Remus frowned down at the pillowcase he was midway through stuffing a pillow into. Once he had finished he threw the pillow down upon the bed before looking round at her.

"We're doing night raids in Liverpool." she explained, examining her boots with interest as he slowly crossed the room to stand in front of her. "There were three casualties last night. They say Watson might not make it..." she trailed off with a sigh and he felt a stab of anxiety at the notion that she'd rather go and throw herself into what seemed to be a dangerous set of raids at work than stay at home and risk sharing a bed with him.

Merlin, he thought despairingly, and he felt suddenly compelled to lean forward to brush a kiss to her lips.

"Whatever you think best, darling." he told her as her eyes instantly drifted closed despite the briefness of the gesture. She didn't kiss him back. She never did these days. It always ended in tears when she did.

As he headed downstairs to get his coat on Remus wondered if they might at last manage to get back to normal in time for Teddy not to notice. It seemed so doubtful. After all how were they to achieve what they had failed to do in weeks when there were just a few short hours?

But he was determined. For Teddy's sake. He was determined to be normal and not awkward and entirely comfortable and happy...

And he found himself turning to face his wife as she eyed her hair briefly in the mirror in the hallway, and asking:

"Will you kiss me?"

Dora looked startled.

"Only if you want me to." she told him, sounding doubtful that he ever would do, and he decided:

"I do."

"Do you?"

"Yes. I do, I just..." he trailed off, unsure of how to explain himself because he knew explaining might make her feel awful, which he couldn't quite bear.

"Well then," she said, closing the gap between them and reaching to rest her hands against his chest, "If that's what you want..."

It felt like being kissed for the very first time. It made his heart thump in his chest and he felt like soaring and yet she kissed him languidly and there wasn't the rush and urgency that had befallen them at any other time they'd tried to be normal, which made him feel perfectly at ease and the panic simply didn't come.

After a moment she drew back from him with a relieved smile and he'd reached to pull her into his arms, hugging her tightly as her head came to rest against his shoulder. They stood for a minute in silence, holding one another until she drew in a deep, serious sounding breath that made him squeeze his eyes shut.

"Remus?"

"Dora."

He felt her shift in his arms until her lips brushed his earlobe and she confessed:

"I want to be your wife again. I want to be truly yours."

His grip upon her tightened but he couldn't decide what to say.

"Do you want that too?" she finally whispered when the silence became too much for her, and he'd realised he had no hesitation in telling her:  
"Yes. With all my heart. I just..."

"Sh." she interrupted, burying her face contentedly in the crook of his neck. "You don't have to say anything else. Just as long as I know that, just as long as you're sure then nothing else matters. I don't care how long it takes for you to feel comfortable. I don't care how long it takes for you to feel we're mended. Just as long as I know we will be some day." And then she'd kissed him carefully upon the lips and said: "Come on, we'll miss the train coming in..."

When he got off the train, dragging his hefty school trunk behind him, Teddy found his parents stood upon Platform 9 ¾ awaiting his arrival hand in hand. The boy had never found such a simple gesture so overwhelmingly reassuring in all his life and he was quite convinced everything bad was well and truly in the past. His mother gave him a big hug and a kiss and his father had taken the trunk and they'd headed for home with talk of bangers and mash for dinner.

It was easier being normal when Teddy was around, Remus found that evening. There was no wincing when they brushed hands at the dinner table reaching for the salt, no awkward shifting when they sat down upon the sofa together and in her weariness Dora's head had come to rest upon his shoulder. In fact he'd even felt relieved to hear she had given the night shifts to other volunteers and whilst telling him this she had reached to pluck a stray piece of fluff from the knee of his trousers and he hadn't felt at all uneasy at the gesture.

But then they had sent Teddy to bed and elected to go to bed themselves. Remus felt a sense of dread as he changed for bed that night, remembering what had happened last time he'd dared climb between those sheets and feeling guilty that he'd managed to drive her to such worry over their relationship that she'd seen fit to throw herself at him in the first place.

Tonight however she changed for bed in the bathroom and got into bed with barely a glance at him, waited for him to choose to kiss her goodnight upon the cheek before turning her back to him and falling asleep.

It was...oddly disappointing.

But no doubt for the best, Remus decided as he had turned his back on her too and drifted off to sleep himself. Even if he did feel a little lost and cold lying there without her in his arms when she was just there beside him...

He awoke feeling warm and fuzzy and perfectly content the next morning when the door to the bedroom was flung open, and Remus wondered quite what had changed over the course of the night as Teddy bounded into the room.

"There's been an owl!" Teddy announced excitedly, thrusting the letter in question under his father's nose. "It's from Germany!"

Remus was just reaching to accept the envelope when he realised that in order to do so he needed to untangle his hand from around the witch lying snugly in his arms. He gazed down at his sleeping wife for a long moment, taking in their tangled legs under the duvet, his arms tightly around her and his arm hugged tightly to her chest before blinking heavily and telling his son:

"Perhaps I'll read it over breakfast, Ted."

"Right!" Teddy said, positively grinning at the pair of them in a way that Remus thought he probably should find unnerving. "I'm going to make tea!" And with that he turned and rushed back out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

At the sudden noise, Dora stirred, shifting against his chest as she wondered:

"Wuzzat?"

"Nothing." Remus told her, leaning to bury his face in her hair, and the witch yawned widely and asked:

"What time is it?"

"I neither know nor care, my darling." the werewolf murmured, voice muffled by her strikingly pink locks.

"Hm." the witch said, grip upon his arm tightening with a sigh as he whispered:

"Just promise me you won't move a muscle..."

**Finish.**

**(Thank goodness!)**


End file.
